Realize
by LadyBuhg
Summary: Pirates capture Zuko and Katara, leaving them mentally unstable and latched to each other. After finding his nephew and the waterbender, Iroh must keep a promise he made to the Avatar and teach him firebending. Everyone must realize what is most important in order to do what is right. Z/K
1. Chapter 1

**A:N: **

**BEWARE!** THIS WILL BE RATED** "M"** FOR A** REASON!**

This is set after "The Waterscrolls".

**Edit: **This chapter has been altered and redone.

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**"So, **we have a deal?" The Admiral smirked as he pressed a small chest full of gold over to the large, grungy pirate Captain sitting across from him. The Captain growled and scowled at the firebender in front of him. He then opened the chest and realized he wasn't being snipped. No, he wasn't being snipped at all, in way, shape, or form.

This surprised him greatly. The majority of bargainers would merely cover the bottom of a chest, or half way fill a sack and still expect a job-well-done. But this man was serious, and the pirate now knew that for a fact he could write down into a history book if he needed to. This chest was absolutely filled to the brim with gold pieces. Yes, this pirate and his crew would indeed do a fine job at accomplishing the task ahead of them, they would make sure of it.

The Captain chuckled and closed the chest, securing it with a lock of his own. "We've got a deal, alright." The Captain and the Admiral stood simultaneously and shook hands. "Nice workin' wit' ya." The Captain said as he tipped his hat a turned away. The parrot-iguana that was perched on his shoulder squawked and stretched it's wings as they left the room, the crew following closely behind.

Admiral Zhao smirked and and quietly sat back down, lacing his fingers together, patiently waiting to hear the plan go through.

!

Iroh quietly made his way to his nephew's room. The ship was so silent and cold now, without the crew. He knew his nephew, Prince Zuko, wasn't taking the situation very well, but Iroh would still ask him if he would like to accompany him on the stroll he was about to take, hopefully to talk about it, or to simply clear his mind.

The old general gently knocked on the door before slowly twisting the hatch open. "Prince Zuko," He called out. "I know you're bothered by Admiral Zhao's doings, but would you like to come with me on a nice walk up the trail? It would be a great opportunity to talk about how you're feeling!" Iroh said, ending with a great, happy smile towards his young, troubled nephew. Iroh waited for a response, and of course, there was none. "...or just lay in your room in the dark, whatever makes you happy." The boy's uncle hung his head with a frown on his face and slowly closed the door behind him.

"Hmmm." The General paused and stroked his goatee. "Perhaps he will change his mind... in the meanwhile, this is a perfect time to make a nice, hot cup of tea!" Iroh let a big grin take the place of frown as he headed towards the kitchen with a smile on his face. The cook and his food may be gone, but Iroh and his excellent tea-making skills where still here! He figured he shouldn't let them go to waste!

Zuko lay quietly on his mattress with his arms crossed over his chest and a scowl across his face. He couldn't believe it! That Admiral Zhao had taken his whole crew on his quest to find the Avatar!

The Admiral had a whole fleet under his command, he was bound to find the Avatar before the prince did. If that old, cranky Admiral succeeds, Zuko will never be able to return home. Just as this thought crosses his mind, the prince hears one of the rusty hatch doors open.

Zuko sat up up and listened closely, able to make out a set of foot steps, but they're far too light to be his Uncle's. It couldn't be one of the crew's, they're gone, plus theirs would be click-clanking all the way down the hall. Zuko slowly opened his door before jumping through the door way, landing in a firebending stance, ready to attack if needed. But no one is there.

"Uncle?" He called out, furrowing his brows. He remembers that his Uncle had just asked him to accompany him on a stroll up some dumb trail. It couldn't be him, could it? 'Oh, of course!' The thought hits the prince like a ton of bricks. His Uncle would go no where without a cup of tea first! He must be in the kitchen.

Prince Zuko calmly made his way to the kitchen, and before he could even make it into the room, he can hear his Uncle's humming.

"Uncl-whoa!" He can't even finish his sentence before he falls flat on his face. He had slipped on something slippery.

"Zuko!" Iroh calls, running towards him.

"What is this?" Zuko wiped the residue on four of his fingers before lifting to his nose and taking a sniff. "Blasting jelly! Uncle, what are you doing putting this all over the floors!"

"I didn't do that..." Zuko's eyes widened, if not him, then who?

Zuko grabbed his Uncle by the wrists and bolted towards the ship's deck. A trail of the deadly jelly stops in the middle of it. Zuko spotted a group of men over the side, reaching for something.

"Hey!" The young firebender called out.

One of the men looked over his shoulder to him. It's one of the pirates!

"What do you think you're doing!"

"Uh oh!"

Zuko quickly sent a wave of fire towards the group men.

"Careful with that fire, Nephew! Wouldn't want to light this trail!" Iroh called after him. Zuko wasn't a master a fire bender, and he certainly wasn't a master at self control, or his temper. He needed to watch himself, or he could let the whole rig explode.

It wasn't long before some of the men were around Iroh, but with a few jabs and kicks, the master had already taken out half of them.

"Stay away from him!" Iroh heard his nephew call out. He saw a flick of fire out of the corner of his eye and before he knew the trail of jelly had been lit.

"What did I tell you, Prince Zuko!" This time, it was Iroh grabbing his nephew by the wrists and high-tailing it out of there, but one of the pirates saw and quickly used his hook swords to trip the prince.

"Go!" Zuko waved his uncle away. "I'll be fine!" Iroh hesitated, but turned to the edge of the ship and made a run for the ledge. He heard a blast of fire come from his nephew's ship as he jumped over the rail. He had just been able to land into the water before the whole ship exploded.

!

"Hey Aang," Katara called for the young avatar as she turns, looking in his direction. He's on Appa's head, holding the reigns that are attached to the bison's horns.

Aang looks over his shoulder to her. "Yeah?" He asks.

"Maybe we should try these scrolls one more time before we head into a different town. There may not be a river like this that we can practice in." Aang looks down at the water. It does look nice, and it's such a perfect fay to practice water. Not too hot, not too cold. The sun is high in the sky, and there's not a cloud for miles.

"Ah, okay." He shrugs his shoulder and pulls the rings up, telling Appa to start descend.

"Hey!" Sokka protests. "What are you doing! Who knows where that crazy one-eyed freak is, or those crazy stalker pirates! We should be leaving! You can practice later!"

"Relax, Sokka." Katara puts her hands on her hips and furrows her brow. "Those pirates went down the water fall, and Zuko has no river boat, his ship couldn't possibly make it up the river. Besides, today is beautiful, and Aang needs to learn as much waterbending as he can! You know it's important!" She pointed out, leaning towards him as she glares up to him.

"Yeah? Well you would think our safety would be more important!" Sokka let out a huff as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Aang raises a brow and looks over to Sokka. "You could fish while Katara and I practice." Aang didn't eat meat, or promote doing so, but he knew Sokka loved his meat, and this was probably the only way they were going to get him to agree in landing at the river again.

Sokka leaned over the edge of Appa's saddle as they landed, looking at the river. He noticed all the dark spots in the water, fish that are trying to swim up the river, but aren't going fast enough. Meat, wonderful, tasty meat. Though they had just visited a market, their supplies were always over ran with fruits for Aang and his pets. Sokka couldn't resist this opportunity.

"Oh, alright." Sokka sighed out, sliding down Appa's tail.

Katara and Aang are already making their way down the river a little ways down so they don't scare this fish from Sokka.

"Katara, what is this?" Aang asked, pointing at an odd object that had washed onto the shore.

"I don't know..." Katara placed the tip of her pointer finger on her lip as she looked around, other bits and pieces had washed up along the river and some were still floating about.

Aang gasped and pointed to a crook in the river. "Look!" He shouted as he ran towards it.

"What is it, Aang!" Katara ran after him. Aang fell to his knees and stared at the body that had been washed up. A heavy, grey haired man was laying down, facing away from him.

"Katara," Aang breathed out, waves of concern crashing over him.

"Oh my goodness." Katara gasped out. Aang gently rolled the poor man over. He jumped a little when he heard Katara screech behind him. "Get away from him, Aang! It's Zuko's uncle!" She growled out. Aang furrowed his brow and looked around. There no sign of the hot-headed prince. Aang looked back down at the princes' uncle.

"No, Katara," Aang said softly as he pointed out to the stay pieces of bent medal and broken wood. "Look, those are pieces of Zuko's ship!" Then the young avatar noticed the marks on General Iroh. "The ship must have exploded. He barely made it out. We have to help him!" Aang said as he stood up and faced the waterbender. "Bend the water from his lungs!" He ordered, motioning towards the unconscious man before him.

"Aang, what if this is a trick," She glanced around, searching for any sign of anything suspicious.

"Katara! Look at him!" Katara was taken back by Aang's harsh tone.

She looked down at the old man. He and his nephew had been chasing them for so long. All he wanted to do was get Aang into his Fire Nation fingers. She looked back up at Aang and saw the desperation on his face.

"Oh, alright!" She huffed in defeated as she went to her knees, hovering his hands over the old man's chest. "But if this is a trick!" She warned him, narrowing her eyes up at him. Aang crossed his arms and watched her as she gently bent the water from his lungs. Iroh coughed and wheezed. He grumbled something before his eyes shot open.

"Zuko!" He called out, sitting up suddenly. "Zuko!" He desperately called out again, looking around frantically.

Katara placed her hand on his shoulder and gently pushed him back and bit. "You should stay down," She said calmly. It was obvious that Iroh was seriously worried. He coughed horribly and took her hand off of him.

"What happened?" Aang asked softly as he sat down beside the princes' old uncle.

Iroh groaned and cleared his throat. He panted and looked around. Katara slumped over when she saw the amount of worry on his face. Something terrible must have happened to separate these two.

"It's okay." Aang rubbed Iroh's shoulder and gave him a small smile for comfort and reassurance. The old generals face fell as he looked away.

"I'm afraid it's not." He croaked out.

"Why? What is it? What happened?" Aang leaned in a bit and put both his hands on Iroh's shoulders. "We'll help you." Aang assured softly.

Iroh looked up at Aang. "The pirates that we ran into..." Iroh paused and looked away. "They...they took blasting jelly and...and.." Aang's face fell. It all made sense now. Horrible, awful sense. "I was able off the edge just in time," Iroh paused, a wave of realization searing through his amber eyes. "I just left him there!" Iroh admitted sourly as he looked up at Aang again. "I shouldn't have left him! I could have helped him!" Aang was stunned, surprised to see the general struggle to fight back tears.

Aang quickly wrapped his arms around him and looked up to Katara, his eyes filled with honest concern. Her hands were covering her mouth and he could tell she was holding back tears from seeing Iroh like this. Though she had bad feelings towards him, she just couldn't stand seeing anyone so upset and lost, even him.

"Hey!" Katara and Aang looked up at the sound of Sokka's voice. He was running towards them with his battle club and boomerang at hand. "What's going on? I heard someone yell Zuko's name!"

"Shh!" Katara stood up and placed two of her fingers over he brother's lips. He furrowed his brows and pouted. She turned and pointed towards Iroh. Sokka's shoulders dropped and he looked towards Aang, tilting his head in confusion.

Aang blinked and mouthed "tell you later". Sokka nodded his head and looked towards his sister. She placed a hand on her his shoulder and guided him away from Iroh.

Katara stopped once they reached Appa. She rested her right hand just above her right elbow and looked down. "We think he lost Zuko to an explosion. Those pirates caught up with them..." Sokka sighed and looked towards their direction. Aang was still holding Iroh.

"What are we supposed to do?" He asked, placing his club on his shoulder.

"I'm not sure... we just can't leave him, you Aang wouldn't allow it." Sokka huffed and kicked a small rock into the near by river. Another mouth to feed.

"I'll go catch some fish for his highness." Sokka mocked Iroh's bloodline as he shuffled over to the water. Katara pressed her lips together and started her way back over to Aang and Iroh.

"Aang," She said softly. The young avatar looked up at her. "What are we going to do?" Katara asked, tilting her head to one side.

"I...I'm not sure." He admitted, slowly pulling away from the frazzled general. Iroh slumped over even more and continued to cry.

"I should have stayed." He mumbled. Aang and Katara remained silent, unsure if he was speaking to them or not. "Just like Lu Ten."

Katara stepped back and looked at Iroh with anguish. "Who's Lu Ten?" She whispered, hiding her mouth away from Iroh with her hand.

Aang glanced at Iroh before looking back up at Katara and shrugging. "I don't know." He mumbled.

Katara frowned and lowered herself to Iroh's level. She placed a hand on his shoulder blade and comforted him. "Iroh," She said softly. "I know you may not know us, and we don't know you, but.." Katara trailed off and looked up at Aang. He nodded in agreement. "We can help you. We'll help you."

Iroh looked up at her with puffy eyes. She smiled and gently squeezed his shoulder. "Really?" He croaked out. Katara nodded and stood.

"Come on, you need to rest." She helped him up and let him put his arm around her shoulder for support. Aang allowed him to do the same on the other side as he limped towards Appa.

"Here, you can lay here." Aang said, helping Iroh down onto Appa's tail. "We were going to leave soon, but we'll stay a while and help you look for Zuko." Iroh let his eyes drift shut.

Just before Aang turned away, he softly called out: "Avatar Aang," Aang paused and looked towards their new guest.

"Yes?" He asked kindly. "Thank you...you've given me hope in a time of great need." Aang smiled. He could tell the Iroh was usually a much more calm and collected man, he picked up slight hints of embarrassment in his voice. This was his way of recomposing himself.

"I will always be here to help." Aang bowed and began to turn away. Aang was in mid-step before he stopped. It was the Avatar's duty to help those in need. It was also the Avatars duty to learn all four elements. The old general already owed Aang his life, and soon he would be in even more dept once they began searching for the generals nephew. Iroh owed him. A lot.

Aang smirked and turned towards Iroh once again. "My friend here saved your life," He began.

"Oh, I know." Iroh sighed out, assuring him that he was very aware of this.

"And soon, I'm going to begin searching for your nephew, the boy who has been chasing me all over the world, trying to bring me to the Fire Lord." Iroh opened one of eyes to look at the young avatar. "You'll be very far in dept to me." Iroh nodded his head. "I know how you can repay me."

Sokka and Katara looked at each other with confusing, then back to Aang. "You and your nephew can no longer chase me, or my friends." Iroh nodded again. "And.." Iroh opened both eyes and raised a brow. "You'll have to teach me firebending." The water tribe's sibling's mouths dropped. What on earth was Aang doing!

"So, we have a deal?" The avatar asked, holding out his hand. Iroh smiled and shook the boys hand. "We've got a deal."

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**A/N:** Leave a review! Tell me what you think, please!


	2. Chapter 2

**BEWARE!** THIS WILL BE RATED **"M"** FOR A** REASON!**

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**Aang **woke up smacking his lips and scratching his head. He woke up a bit confused, though. He didn't understand why he wasn't on Appa and why they weren't trying to get the Northern Water Tribe. He looked around to do a head count and realized he had counted one too many. Had he counted himself on accident? Aang's breath caught in his throat when he saw the seasoned fire bender pouring something into a small cup. His first reaction was to flee, but the memories of yesterday came flooding. He stood and walked over to the small fire Iroh had constructed and lit. He plopped down in front of it and gave a light smile to 'Sifu Iroh'. Now Aang understood why he had counted wrong before, he had forgotten all about his previous agreements with Zuko's uncle from the day before and was quite startled with the sight of a fire bender sleeping so soundly in his camp. Aang put his elbow on his knee and rested his chin on his fist. It was okay. Iroh was okay.

"It's pretty early, don't you think?" Aang croaked out. His throat was dry.

Iroh chuckled, shaking his head and taking a small sip of whatever it was he had been drinking. "Not for a fire bender," He admitted. "We rise with the sun." Aang rocked back a bit and nodded.

"Say," Aang began. "Could I have some of that?" Iroh smiled and nodded. He pulled another cup from a small bag he must have either of had on him, or found on the river's shore.

"It's ginseng tea. It's very good for you, and it is also my favorite." Aang lightly took the cup from Iroh's hand and took a small sip.

"Mm!" Aang swallowed hard and looked down at the tea. "This is the best tea I've had in a long time!" Aang then downed the tea and held out the cup for a refill.

"Thank you. I've had many years of practice." Iroh said, poking fun at his age and refilling the avatars cup.

Aang slowly finished another cup of tea before he looked over to Iroh and began to examine him. He was old, obviously, with nothing but grey hair and a receding hair line. Well fed, which being from the Fire Nation, it was pretty obvious that he would be. But there was something about him. He was so calm. He seemed so content, sitting on the dirt in burnt and ripped clothes. Aang honestly expected him to be complaining, moving about and eating all of their food. Not to mention he expected Iroh to have a temper. Iroh had just joined the group and they hadn't began training yet, but Aang had a feeling that Iroh was different from the usual 'hot-headed jerks' that hailed from the Fire Nation.

"So," Aang began. "When are we going to start fire bending?" He asked filled with excitement. Now, he was a bit worried, having one of his enemies, _former_ enemies as his teacher, but he still felt well and ready to begin. Aang's ear-to-ear smile fell right off his face when he heard Iroh laugh, though.

"I don't plan on teaching you any time soon, young avatar." Iroh admitted before taking a small sip of his tea.

Aang's face scrunched up with confusion as he leaned back and tilted his head. "Wh..what?" Aang looked down to the ground, puzzled. "That's part of the deal!" He barked out.

"I don't think you're ready. I would like to wait." Iroh calmly sipped his tea. Before Aang could reply, a voice called out.

"He's right, Aang." It was Katara. Aang looked over his shoulder at her and pouted. "You're supposed to learn fire bending last." She said as she placed a hand on his shoulder and sat next to him.

"But I'm ready!" Aang protested.

Iroh shook his head. "We should respect the avatar cycle. Air, water, earth, and then fire. You need to master the first three elements before you begin fire bending. You need to learn a great deal from them all in order to learn fire bending."

Aang looked up to Iroh, still pouting and asked. "But isn't there something I could at least start on? Anything!" Iroh put his cup down and looked over the side in thought.

"Hmm..I suppose I could get you started with one thing, but I have a feeling you're not going to like it!" He warned, standing up and motioning for Aang to stand beside him. Aang lifted himself up with his air bending and landed gently next to his new teacher. Aang watched Iroh move into a stance that he linked to earth bending. It was a strong stance, with his legs apart in a squatting position with his arms by his side and his fists parallel to his knees. Aang was confused, but mimicked anyways.

"I would rather you learn the other three elements first," Iroh admitted. "So you can understand this stance better, but I suppose because of your enthusiasm we could begin with the very start of the basic's." Aang nodded, still in his stance. "Do you know why you're in this stance?" Aang shook his head. "I'll try to explain everything." Iroh took in a deep, slow breath before extending his right arm, letting a ball of fire blast from his fist. "Fire comes from the breath, Prince Zu- Aang. You will need to learn to control your breathing before you can even think of being able to control your fire." Aang nodded. "You will learn to do so through various breathing exercised and long sessions of meditation. Do you recognize this stance?"

"Yeah, it looks like something an earth bender would use."

"It is." Iroh smiled. "It's a very universal stance. It is something an earth bender would use to stand strong, to keep his ground and be able to push hundreds of pounds of rock." Iroh mimicked a simple earth bending move, but with his fire bending. Using both his hands he seemed to press out a small wall of fire away from him. "This stance is perfect for air bending, your legs are bent allowing you to spring yourself up and into the air. Water benders would use this to stand next to their source of water, a perfect stance to easily be able to sway side to side, to be able to push and pull the water while keeping your balance." Iroh paused and motioned over to Katara, who had just left the stance to guide a small bubble of water with a fish in it into a pot above the fire Iroh had made earlier. "Being in this stance you're not too hunched over or too straight backed. You're not crushing your lungs and you're not stretching them, allowing you to put even more air into your lungs to fuel your fire." Iroh left the stance to strand up straight. "I want you to stay this stance. Breath through your nose and out your mouth." Iroh turned and walked away. Aang wasn't sure why Iroh was leaving, but he stayed in his stance and focused on his breathing.

Katara was standing in the river when she realized that the fish were trying to out-smart her. Sokka had been fishing there the day before and she had just managed to bend one fish out of the water not too long ago. They knew she was there and they weren't swimming up the river any farther. Usually, left overs and one fish wouldn't had been a problem, but they now had another mouth to feed. She was just going to have to walk down a little ways and begin fishing there if they were all going to have a good meal tonight.

She left the water and saw Aang in a stance and Iroh walking away from him. This must be part of his teachings and she didn't want to disturb him. Sokka was still sleeping, which was surprising, seeing as that their new member was one of the men that had been chasing them for quite some time. Katara expected her older, paranoid brother to be up before sun rise so he could keep an eye on their new 'guest'.

"Iroh," She called, walking up to him. "I don't want to wake my brother or disturb Aang, so could you tell them that I'm just down the river? The fish have caught on, and if we want a decent dinner, I'll have to begin fishing there."

"Not a problem." Iroh smiled. "Be careful. Holler if you need us." Katara smiled back and nodded.

"Thank you." She said turning away to begin walking down the river.

Nearly an hour passed and Iroh had a nice pile of leaves from near by bushes for tea. The water tribe boy was still sound asleep, Aang was still in his stance, and the water tribe girl was still down the river. Iroh smiled at his nice little pile of collected leaves and looked around for anything else he could use to make some decent tea. He had just spotted a nice plant when he heard Aang sigh and saw him slump out of his stance. Iroh turned to him in confusion.

"This is boring." The avatar complained. "When do I get to start using fire!"

"Not for a while. You haven't learned to breath."

"Breath! I've been breathing for twelve years! I think I know how to breath."

"No, you must learn to-"

"Aang!" Iroh and Aang's attention went straight down the river at the sound of Katara's scream. It wasn't a split second before they both started to head in her direction.

"Where'd she go!" Aang asked in an urgent, worried voice.

"The fish weren't swimming up the river because their fishing, so she went to go find them." Aang whipped out his glider and lifted himself up into the sky when he heard Katara yell for him again. Iroh hustled, but he wasn't as worried as the avatar seemed to be.

Aang's eyes widened at the site of an unfamiliar boat in the river. He looked over and saw Katara struggling to break free of a group of men's grasps. Aang nearly fell from the sky when out of nowhere a bird beak pecked him in the head.

"Ow!" He growled, smacking whatever it was away. A green bird feather fell from above him. The pirates! It must be the pirates! Aang swooped down and sent a wave of air towards the men, knocking a couple of them down.

A fire blast came from inside the boat and a few more men jumped from the deck, but that was the last of Aang's worries. "Let her go!" He demanded.

"Zuko!" Aang turned around and saw Iroh running up behind him. He turned to his right saw that is was Zuko who must have sent the fire blast. It wasn't long before two pirates had the prince held back by his wrists.

"Don't try it old man!" One pirate barked out. Iroh continued to move forward instead of heeding his warning. "Stop!" The pirate demanded. "Or the boy gets it!" He said, raising a blade to Zuko's throat. Iroh stopped in his tracks immediately.

"Zuko!" Iroh called out. Aang took this opportunity and turned back towards Katara, he swung his arms back but before he could send another wave of air one of the pirates holding Katara held a blade to her throat.

"Don't even think about it, kid!" The pirate smiled a gross, nearly toothless smile. Aang looked over to Iroh in desperation. Iroh looked back at him with a serious amount of worry and fear in his eyes. Iroh knew the pirates would slit their throats right then and there if him or Aang tried to pull anything. Aang scrunched his face up and pulled his arms back farther.

"No!" Iroh cried out, grabbing Aang's arms. "They'll kill them both!" Aang's mouth dropped in astonishment. Was Iroh seriously about to let them just take his nephew away?

"What am I supposed to do? I can't just let them take her!" Aang looked to Katara and saw her still struggling. He then looked over to Zuko and couldn't believe his eyes. He knew that he must have suffered from some cuts and burns from the explosion, even Iroh had some, but Aang saw wounds that he knew had not been done the night the prince's ship blew. Zuko had a black eyes, cuts and bruises not only on his face but all over his arms and neck. Aang was sure the rest of the teens body had been beaten as well. He also noticed that Zuko wasn't trying to get away, and if there's one thing Aang knew about Zuko it was that he never seemed to give up, so why wasn't he fighting?

Aang looked back up to Katara and saw small, thin line of blood drip from her throat. He lowered his staff and looked at their boat. It wasn't either of Zuko's or the pirates usual. They had all been destroyed. This boat must be 'fresh off the market'. It was small, but large enough for all the pirates and surely a place for prisoners. Aang could easily land Appa on the deck if he wanted to. So it was then that he decided that they would follow the boat and at night sneak onto it and save both Katara and Zuko.

"Hey, cap'n." One of the pirates, Oh, whispered over.

"Yeah?" The pirate caption answered quietly.

"That there is not only the wench that stole our scroll, she also seems to be the avatars girlfriend."

"So?"

"So, he's sure to come after her. We can use her as bait to lure the avatar onto our ship. Then we'll have the Fire Lords son, the avatar, his whole gang, and his rare pets to sell on the black market. Think of the money we'll make with all of them! And while we wait for the kid to come crying for his girlfriend, we get some free entertainment, hmm?"

"I suppose you're right." The captain admitted, rubbing his chin in thought. He was trying to calculate how much money he was about to make. "Take her to the brig with the fire boy. Don't try anything funny, avatar, or they'll be the ones paying for it." The captain waved off the avatar and motioned for his crew to bring their prisoners onto the small ship.

Aang's breath caught in his throat as he watched them take a still struggling Katara away.

"Aang! What are you doing!" She cried out before a pirate smacked his hand over her mouth to silence her.

Aang slammed his eyes shut and took took in a deep breath. "No!" He shouted as he jumped up into the air. He pulled is arms back far over his head and used all his mite to slam it down onto the ground, sending a huge gust of wind towards the pirates. Before he could use another move on them, a pirate came out from behind him and punched him, knocking him to the ground. Aang struggled to stay awake, the last thing he saw was Katara being shoved onto the ship and another pirate knocking Iroh to the ground.

It was nearly dusk before Aang felt himself being lifted up.

"Get up." He heard Iroh's voice. Aang's eyes fluttered open. Iroh had a large welt on his head, but he seemed to be fine. Aang grumbled and stumbled forwards. "You've got one to match." Iroh said, catching Aang and pushing him back to stand him up straight. "I'm sure her brother is worried." Aang nodded and looked down in defeat.

Sokka was sharpening his boomerang when they finally reached camp. "You guys? What's wrong?" Sokka asked, standing up to face them. "Where's Katara?" He asked, leaning towards Iroh.

"It's not his fault." Aang said softly.

"What!" Sokka asked sharply. Aang shook his head and covered his eyes with his hand. Sokka looked up at Iroh in confusion. Iroh was holding his head down, not allowing Sokka to look at him. "What happened Aang! Where's my sister!" Sokka looked around desperately searching for clues. The only thing there was Iroh holding his head down in what seemed to be shame and sorrow and a weeping Aang, but no Katara. That's when it hit him. "Oh no." Sokka breathed out. "They took her! You let them take her?" Sokka strangled the air in anger and threw a rock out into the forest, scaring a flock of birds from the trees. "How could you let them take her, Aang? Why would you do that?" Sokka grabbed Aang by the shirt, snatching him up and reeling his fist back.

"No!" Iroh grabbed Sokka by the shoulder and pulled him away from Aang. "They had Zuko, too! If we had done anything, they would have killed them both!"

"No!" Sokka pulled himself from Iroh's grasp and grabbed his boomerang, threatening Iroh with the pointy end. "You let them take her!"

"It's not his fault!" Aang protested, tears streaming down his face.

"You're right, it's your fault!" Sokka stomped and turned towards Aang. He leaned over him and yelled in his face. "It's your fault for letting him stay with us! It's your fault for making us stay here another night! This would have never of happened if it weren't for you!"

"Maybe if you hadn't been sleeping you could have done something!" Aang barked out. Sokka pulled his arm back, boomerang readied. His lip quivered and he threw his boomerang down in front of him. Sokka then turned and stormed off, steaming with anger.

Aang hunched over and began to cry into his hands. Iroh sat down next to Aang and tried to comfort him. "He wasn't there, he doesn't know. But it's not his fault. It's not my fault and it's not your fault, Aang. We'll find them."

"We don't even know which way they went." Aang choked out.

"We'll find them."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: BEWARE! **THIS WILL BE RATED** "M" **FOR A** REASON!**

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**"Aang!** What are you doing!" Katara cried out before one of the pirates that was holding her smacked his hand over her mouth. She immediately turned her head to the side, trying desperately to escape from his grubby-handed grasp. He yanked her towards him and tightening his grip on her wrist and dug his short nails into her cheek.

"I've still got that knife." He warned, growling into her ear. This sent waves of fear through out her body. She squeezed her eyes closed, trying to not allow him to see just how frightened she really was.

"No!" Katara's eyes shot open at the sound of Aang's shout. She glanced back in his direction and watched him jump up into the air and then slam his staff onto the ground. It wasn't long before her and the two men holding her were on the ground. One of the pirates that had been guiding Zuko back onto the ship turned around and picked her up from the back of her dress and shoved her farther onto the deck. Aang had sent a violent gust of wind in their direction. Katara turned her head and helplessly watched as a pirate jumped up from behind Aang and punched him the back of the head. She watched him fall to his knees and struggle to keep his eyes open. She flinched back as she saw another pirate come to Iroh and hit in him in the temple, knocking him out immediately.

"Get goin'." The pirate that had picked her up demanded. He shoved her into the front door of the ship and down a hallway before they entered a small, short stairwell that led to a small cell in the ship and the storage room. One pirate held Zuko by wrist bindings while one slipped a key from his pocket and unlocked the cell. The man holding Zuko pushed him into the cell. Zuko slammed into the wall before falling backwards. His wrist bindings came undone and allowed him to prop himself up with his elbows.

Katara let out a small "eek" when the pirate that was holding her suddenly pushed her into the cell. She turned before she hit the wall. Her bindings fell from her wrist as she slid down the wall to sit.

Two of the pirates made their way up the stairs as one pointed to Zuko saying, "You know the drill, boy." Zuko turned and leaned up against the wall. The pirate's face twisted in anger. He slipped through the door of the cell and kicked Zuko in the side. Katara gasped and sunk into the corner of the cell. "Do I have to teach you this again!" He asked, pulling a small blade no bigger than his hand from his pocket. Zuko held his side and groaned out something Katara made out as a "no". She watched in confusion as Zuko stripped himself of his shirt, shoes, and pants leaving him in nothing but a thin pair of shorts. She froze at the sight of the burns, cuts, and bruises that covered his body. She wondered how much were from the explosion and how much were from the pirates beating.

The prince was literally covered in wounds. She had a hard time finding a patch a clear skill. Not to mention he seemed to be covered in a small layer of a mixture of what seemed to be dried blood and dirt. He couldn't of been with them for more than a day and he had already nearly been beaten to a pulp. This caused Katara to sink farther into the corner when the pirate turned to her.

"You too, girly." He growled, pointing to her with his knife.

She breathed in, scrunching up her face. "Excuse me!" She breathed out.

"You heard me!" He picked her up by the collar of her dress, then threw her back down into the corner. "Nuttin' but yer wrappin's." The grungy man held the point of his blade to the tip of her nose. "Now!" He demanded.

Katara sunk even farther into the corner and glanced over to Zuko. He had made himself comfortable in the other corner of the cell. She looked the pirate in the eye and strongly blurted out, "No."

The bandit grabbed her by her dress again and lifted her up from it. "If you don't do it we will make you do it!" He shook her, causing her dress to come loose. He then spun her around and yanked her dress off by the back of the collar. He pushed her down onto the steel floor of the boat and taunted her with her outer robe. "You need me to help ya with the rest of yer garments or are you a big enough girl to do it yer self?" He asked, leaning over her. She kicked him below the knee and quickly got up, bolting towards the door that still hung open. He grabbed her by her shoulder just before she stepped out of the cell and pulled her down onto the ground. He then threw himself on top of her, pressing all of his body weight onto her. He grabbed her by the throat and held his knife up to her cheek. "You're not to be tryin' that one again." He said, sliding the tip of the blade over her face. "Wouldn't want this to slip." He flicked his wrist with knife in hand, leaving a small cut on her cheek. She dug her nails into his arm and tried desperately to kick him off of her.

The outlaw pushed himself up, rocking back onto his toes and simultaneously tore her pants from her legs. He stood up and motioned for her to remove her shoes on her own. She continued to lay there, glaring at him. He scowled and took his knife out once again, holding it by the end of the handle between his pointer and thumb, swinging it in the air as a warning. She sighed out and kicked her shoes off in defeat. He laughed and made his way out the cell, closing and locking the bar doors behind him.

Katara sat up and slid to the back wall of the cell. She looked over towards Zuko. He had brought his knees up to his chest and covered his head with his arms. She breathed out and shook her head with disbelief.

"So you're just going to sit there!" She asked. "You could have done something. You could have firebended!" She said, throwing her arms up and letting them fall to her sides. She stared at him, waiting for a response.

He slowly picked his head and rested his chin on his arm. "Yes," He breathed out. "because I've so much energy and fight left in me." Katara furrowed her brow and bit the inside of her mouth. "Just do as they say. It's a lot easier. We'll probably be here a while." He mumbled, turning his head to rest his cheek on his arm.

"Gee, you'd think a prince would be more readied to get his freedom back!" She spat out.

"Don't talk to me about freedom." He growled.

"What is wrong with you? You can chase us non-stop for weeks and then all of a sudden when you're in trouble you give up?" Zuko lifted his head and looked at her as if she had grown an extra head. He then put his legs down and extended his arms out, showing her the damage that had been done to his body within just one day.

"I did fight!" He snarled. "There's too many. They're older, bigger, and stronger than I am. I don't know about you, but I would like to get off this ship _alive _and if that means obeying a bunch of low-life brutes like these for a little while, so be it." He then returned to his earlier position and glared at her, waiting for a response.

Instead of replying, she stared at him. He watched her eyes dart across his body. From his arms, to his legs, to his face. He had welts, cuts, bruises, burns. Just about any kind of wound you could name he had on him. She lifted her hand to her cheek and wiped blood from the small cut she earned herself. She smeared the blood on her hand and looked back to him. He had covered his face again. She noticed he had blood smeared all over his body and she wondered how much of it was his. He had said that he had fought back, but how hard? None of the pirates she encountered today seemed to have any wounds, unless they were covered. Perhaps he had burned one or two so badly that they had the burn victims laying in a make-shift infirmary on this small ship. She imagined two ugly, dirty, nearly toothless pirates laying on thin mattresses in a spare room with bloody bandages wrapped around their arms, torso, and legs. By the looks of Zuko's body, he had either done something to earn that beating, or he had just been bombarded. She went back him saying that he fought and figured he earned it somehow, that sounded more like the Zuko she knew.

Katara sighed and mimicked Zuko, pulling her knees to her chest and covering her head with her arms. She wondered if Aang or Iroh had gotten up by now and what they were doing. She then realized that they had been knocked out while the ship was leaving. They no idea which way they went and possibly no way of finding out. She didn't even know where they were. She shook her head and held back her tears. How were they going to find her? What if they can't find a trail and give up? Would they go to the North Pole to continue Aang's training? How long was she going to be on this blasted ship? Would she ever get off? Ever see land again? Heck, even ever see the sky again? Water? What would they do to her?

Her breath caught in her throat and she had to try even harder not to cry. She felt her heart drop down into her stomach. She was sure she was going to be sick with worry.

Suddenly Sokka ran through her mind. 'Oh, no.' She thought. She knew that he was going to be not only worried sick, but absolutely livid when he found out that the pirates had been allowed to snatch her up. She could just see it now, Iroh and Aang returning to camp, Sokka realizing she was gone, him blaming and probably threatening poor old Iroh. Aang vouching for his new teacher, Sokka becoming enraged, turning on Aang, and then probably storming off, only to go cry in the woods. Their father had told Sokka to protect his baby sister, and allowing a bunch of pirates to capture and take her as prisoner wasn't exactly qualified as 'protecting' her. She was sure that he'd feel like a failure, he'd feel as if he had let not only her and their father down, but the whole tribe. Her heart sunk even deeper into her gut and silent tears began to stream down her face. How would she ever get back to her brother? Back to her family?

She wiped her tears on her now sleeveless arm. She had just leaned back and rested her head on the wall of the ship, looking up to the crackled ceiling when she heard her stomach growl. Katara placed her hand on her bare stomach and realized that she hadn't even gotten the chance to eat breakfast before these brutes snatched her up. Now she was wondering when she was going to see food again, if she ever was.

She curled up even more and rubbed her arms. It was cold in here and the steel hull of the ship wasn't helping. Though she personally needed to go to the North Pole, she hoped these pirates hadn't made any plans on going there anytime soon, or she'd surely freeze to death down here.

It was still day time, so perhaps they would give them at least a thin blanket or small pillow to use during the night. She then scoffed at her own thought. Why would they ever do that? They didn't care. They're probably going to leave them in here to rot. Katara knew that she and Zuko were of no worth to the pirates. If the pirates were ever to abandon the ship, a banished fire prince and a water peasant's skeleton would be probably be found years later by some curious fool who happened to stumble across the old, battered ship.

Katara laid down onto her side and let out a sigh. She then prayed to the ocean spirit to shift the waters, somehow lead the boat to place for a perfect opportunity for her to somehow escape. She prayed to the moon spirit, asking her to watch over her once night came. She closed her eyes and hoped sleep would take her and allow her to stop thinking of her worries.

!

Zuko lifted his head up, just enough to able to see over his arm. He watched as Katara wiped her face and leaned her head back. He lifted his chin and rested it on his arm again. He heard her stomach growl and watch as she placed her hand onto her bare, empty stomach. 'She must have not eaten anything this morning' he thought. He hadn't eaten anything either, not since he ate with his uncle on his ship that was now blown to bits. He wondered if the pirates were ever going to feed them. 'When and what, if anything'.

Zuko rested his cheek on his arm and watched as his cell mate curled up and rubbed her arms. For him, it wasn't cold at all. The heat that radiated off of him kept a small area around him nice and warm, but she was a waterbender and her body was naturally cool, so Zuko figured that for her it must seem as if it were nearly freezing and he was sure the cold steel wasn't helping.

He watched as she lay down onto her side and huff out a burst of air. She was going to try to sleep the day away. He wished her luck, knowing he couldn't do it. He had always had trouble sleeping, even when he was sleeping in one of the Fire Nation's finest beds back at the palace. He would merely close his eyes and wish he was sleeping for hours upon hours. He pressed his back up against the wall and stretched. This was such a horribly small cell. She was barely five feet away from him.

Zuko sighed and tugged on a loose string from his shorts. He couldn't believe this. He couldn't believe what they were doing. They were physically abusing them and mentally abusing them by making them seem powerless and vulnerable. He knew exactly what they were doing by not feeding them and making them strip down to nearly nothing. Starving them to make them physically weak and trying to embarrass them by taking their clothes making them mentally weak. Though Zuko wasn't insecure about his body, he had been training long and hard for years. He knew he was well built and physically fit. But he knew Katara was at least a year younger than him and he knew that girls always seemed to be worried about what they looked like, especially in front of the opposite sex. He bet that for her, this was so awkward and odd to be showing so much skin in front of a bunch of men she doesn't know. Around her brother and the avatar it was surely different, she had lived with her brother all her life and the avatar was too young and probably too sheltered to even know what a serious physical attraction felt like, meant, or could lead to.

His attention left the now sleeping waterbender when he heard footsteps coming from the stairs. One of the pirates that had taken Katara onto this ship had a small bowl of something in his hands. Zuko watched as the brute smirked and dropped the bowl of what looked to be rise on the ground. He then kicked it under one of the horizontal bars and made his way back up the stairs without saying a word. Zuko leaned forward about to reach for the bowl, then stopped. He didn't want it, he realized. His stomach was empty, but he didn't want it.

He leaned over to his right and looked up the stars. A small amount of light from a candle flickered. He let out a sigh and thought of his uncle. He was alive. Zuko let out a big sigh of relief. He didn't know what he'd do if his uncle hadn't survived the explosion. Zuko was so happy that he had his uncle to get back to, but what on earth was he doing with the avatar? Zuko growled and crossed his arms over his chest. Zuko had no idea what to think about seeing his uncle with the last airbender.

Zuko tensed and pressed his back against the wall when he saw Katara start to stir in her sleep. He didn't know what she was dreaming about, but he still felt that she was lucky. She got to sleep while he had to wait this out. He had no idea how long they were going to be here, he had no plan of escaping anytime soon. Not after the beating he got after trying to escape the first time. He wondered why they didn't do anything to punish him for trying it again. Zuko cringed at the thought of them sitting around a table plotting his next beating. Maybe they were waiting for him to heal before they caused even more damage. What would they do? What could they do? They had plenty of weapons to choose from for torture.

He thought of where he had been just days ago. He had his own ship, his own crew, a trail on the avatar, a chance to return home, to regain his honor, and he was with his uncle. Now look at him. Bloody, dirty, hungry, nearly naked, beaten, a prisoner to people so low in ranking. He was a Fire Nation prince. He was royalty. What was he doing here in this hell hole? His uncle had always told him that everything happened for a reason, what in the hell was the reason for this? He wondered. Maybe he would starve here, or be beaten to death. Maybe this was his ending. Maybe this is where he was meant to die.

'No'. He thought to himself, squeezing his arms. He would not die here. Not like this. He would get out of here one way or another. 'But how' he asked himself as he leaned his head back onto the wall. He wasn't going to fire bend at them again, not for a while. He had nearly caught the whole ship on fire. He remembered the series of events and leaned over to his right again, looking up at the ceiling above the storage area. The wood was all nearly completely black. Had he set the ship horribly on fire and not been able to get out, he would have burned in here alive. If he was going to do any fire bending, he was going to have to do it very cunningly.

Zuko sat upright and tried to get comfortable but it was useless. He couldn't live like this. He huffed and laid down onto his stomach, using his arms to support his head. He was so exhausted, but he knew he wasn't going to be sleeping anytime soon. He could try, but he'd just end up laying there for hours. He nearly let out a small chuckle when he realized that he was probably going to end up laying there for hours anyways. He shook his head at himself. Like he had someplace to go, or someplace he needed to be. Please, he was a prisoner in a small, jankie, stolen ship in the middle of he had no idea where.

He watched as Katara turned onto her back and sat up, rubbing her eyes. She squinted at him and looked around. She noticed the small bowl of rise and looked over to him questioningly.

"I've already had mine." He lied. She nodded and took the bowl into her hand.

"How long was a I asleep?" She mumbled.

"A while, I guess." He shrugged. She took a small bite of rice before placing the bowl down next to her. She crossed her legs and studied him. It wasn't long before he noticed her gawking at him. "What?" He asked sharply.

"So, do you have a plan as to how to get out of here?" He scrunched his face and glared at her. He was too tired for this!

"No." He said blatantly. She rolled her eyes and scoffed at him.

"Who are you?" She asked sarcastically. "What's wrong with you, don't you want to get out of here? Be free again?" She mocked. Surely he didn't have any worries. He was just hell-bent on catching Aang because he was a heartless monster, just like everyone else from the Fire Nation.

"Why are you so hooked on that?" He asked angrily, lifting his head off his arm.

"You were some great, spoiled, posh prince that just had to hop on a boat and go searching for the avatar, the last hope of the world. You could sail all over the world with all the money in the world and yet you chose to go searching for Aang. I had to work and slave away all day nearly all my life!" Zuko's mouth dropped as propped himself up with his elbows.

"You think I wanted to be on that ship!" He breathed out a small laugh in astonishment and shook his head. "You don't know anything about me or what I've been through. So don't act like you do and be quiet!"

"Don't you tell me to be quiet!"

"Fine, than shut up, peasant." He hissed.

Katara strangled the air in frustration and leaned towards to him and pointed, "Who do you think you are, Zuko! You're in here too, aren't you? You're just as low as I am right now!" He winkled his nose and glared at her. "We're both lost. We're both prisoners." She ended softly and looked down. Zuko eased back down and rested his head on his arm again. She was right. They were both lost and they were both prisoners. He suddenly knew that he wasn't going to be able to get out of here without her. They shouldn't be arguing, they should be trying to figure out a way to get off this boat. He opened his mouth to apologize, but quickly shut it. He wasn't about to apologize to her. She's the one acting like she knows everything, some Wan Shi Tong wanna be. He scratched his head and tried to block out his uncle's voice telling him to swallow his pride. Zuko grumbled and stopping trying to push it out. Little voices like this were his only connection he had to Iroh. Zuko knew he needed to listen. He knew he needed to be the bigger man and apologize. Zuko sighed out and thought of what to say. He opened his mouth, only to shut it once again.

He looked up at her. She was sitting there with her arms crossed glaring at him. He wan't going to apologize, he decided. At least not now, not yet. He saw her arms and face fall and he wondered what was going through her mind.

"What do you think they're going to do to us?" She asked softly.

He looked down for a second before looking up and blurting out, "Beat us to death." She was obviously taken aback by his words. She sighed and looked down, playing her thumbs before she looked back at him and scooted a little closer to him.

"What happened, exactly?"

"Like you care." He huffed, sending eye daggers her way. Her eyes widened and her mouth slightly opened as she tensed.

She took in a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "I'm just trying to find out what happened, Zuko." She said putting one hand into the air and letting it drop back down, annoyed. "What I should expect." She hissed.

Zuko looked around the small room and saw the scorches and knocked over merchandise from the struggle of the night before. He had just got on to her for acting like she knew everything when she didn't. Even though she of course wouldn't be learning the truth as to why he was so bent on getting the avatar, she would at least know what he had gone through in his night on the marauder's stolen ship.

He sighed and sat up before starting. "Um." He paused and looked around, trying to figure out where exactly he should start and which words to use. "Admiral Zhao had just taken my crew, and I was in my room and I heard their footsteps running about the ship. At first I thought it was Uncle, but then I realized it was far too light to be him. So, I began looking around and I found my Uncle in the kitchen, brewing some tea and I slipped on some blasting jelly. Him and I followed the trail out to the deck and saw them leaning over the edge, I guess they were grabbing something to light the jelly with. Of course, we got into it with them and I accidentally lit the trail with my fire and the pirates jumped on me as I told my Uncle to jump off the ship before it exploded. The pirates pulled me off the ship just before it blew. The worst burns are on my back, but everything else is from them." He paused again, but this time he looked at her to make sure she was listening. She was, he could see the concern on her face. He wondered if it was fake or not. "I fought and struggled and they beat me on the dock. Then some man came up telling them to stop. They knocked him out and stole his ship. They tried to put me in the cell but I fought some more, this time with more fire power," He stopped to point out the marks on the walls and ceiling. He heard a small gasp from her. "But there's so many and all but one is bigger than me. I knew if I continued they'd kill me for sure. They'd beat me to death right there on the floor." He nodded his head towards the floor. Katara hadn't noticed before, but there were smears and small, dried patches of blood on the boxes and floor in the location he was motioning in. "So I stopped and they stripped me of my armor and anything else I had on me other than my thin clothes. They put me in here and made me take those off myself."

Katara sighed and looked down. Zuko had nearly died twice in one night and was now staying on the ship of his potential murderers. She still wanted to know why he was after Aang, but she figured that she shouldn't ask that just yet.

"Well," She began, glancing up at him. She swallowed hard before continuing. "I'm sorry you had to go through that." It almost seemed as if she was forcing the words from her mouth, but Zuko accepted anyways, and assured that he was okay.

Zuko was just about to say something when loud footsteps starting coming from the stairwell. Zuko looked up and Katara turned to see who it was. It was the Captain, holding something behind his back with a smirk on his face.

"You two love birds having fun in your little cage?" He taunted. His prisoners looked at each other with confusion, then back to him. "Don't play stupid," He growled. "I know this little water bender is your girlfriend," The Captain said, taking his hand from behind his back and holding out Katara's necklace. Her eyes widened and her breath caught in her throat. "We found this in one of your armors pockets." He said, taking the other side of the ribbon and rubbing it between his fingers.

Zuko pressed himself against the wall as far as he could in astonishment when he saw Katara jump up, grab the man at least twice her size by the shirt collar and pull him to the bars of the cell. "Don't you ever touch this!" She warned, snatching her necklace from his filthy hands.

"Why you little-" He then reversed their position and grabbed her by chest wrappings, picking her up to look her in her eye. She dug her nails into his arms as far as she could and bit down into his hand. "Ah, so I've got another fighter in my hands, aye?" He asked no one as he sent his arm through one of the gaps in the bars, hitting her in the shoulder. She released her mouth from his now bleeding hand and spat into his face. "Ugh!" He cried out in disgust, dropping her and wiping his face. "You'll be regrettin' that!" He pointed at her, warning her of her future punishment. He then simply turned and stomped up the stairs.

"Katara!" Zuko wailed, grabbing her by the arm. "Why did you do that!" She looked down at his hand before snatching her arm away from his grasp. She turned and picked up her necklace. She rubbed her thumb over the stone in the middle.

"This is my mothers necklace, Zuko. It's all I have left of her." She said as she brought it up to her neck and tied it. She then fixed and tightened her wrappings.

"Oh," He said softly. "I'm sorry-"

"You should be!" She snapped at him. "The Fire Nation took her away from me!" His face scrunched up and he threw his arms into the air, fire trailing not far behind.

"You are such a little know-it-all!" He yelled and pointed at her. She turned, glaring at him. "You think you're the only one whose had it rough, whose been through things!" Her face fell and she leaned away from him. "You think you're the only whose lost a mother to the Fire Nation?" He stopped screeching at her to hear a response, but before she could even open her mouth, he continued. "The Fire Nation stole my mother away from me as well, Katara! Maybe if you listened as much as you spoke, you'd learn something!" He spoke with his hands, leaving a trail of fire behind them. "You're not the only one affected by the war, Katara. The Fire Nation isn't immune to the war just because it's late Fire Lord started it. No one is immune, no one is safe! Not even me! Or my mother!" He yelled, leaning towards her. "I'm human, just like you." He said, sinking back into his corner of the cell, pulling his legs back up to his chest. "You're not the only one." He finished softly, resting his arms on his knees and burying his face into them. "At least you have something." She heard his muffled voice.

Katara sunk down and rubbed her mothers necklace. She huffed and wished for mother to just appear. To just show up in front of her, tell her what to do and hold her. She looked over to Zuko and tried not to cry. She had no idea and he was right. She did assume too much. She had always assumed everything was all silver and gold in the Fire Nation, but now that she thought about, things must be pretty bad there as well. Earth Kingdom and Water Tribe warriors weren't the only ones dying in battle. She was sure that there were probably thousands of fatherless, motherless, or completely orphaned children in the Fire Nation just as there were everywhere else. The Fire Nation must be in pretty bad shape if their own Fire Lady had been taken away. Katara was puzzled at this. How could they take their Lady away? She wondered and wanted to ask but she knew for fact now was not the time.

She then curled up into her own corner and hoped for sleep again.

!

Katara wiggled out of her sleep and immediately knew it was night. Even if she couldn't see the moon, she knew it was in the sky, she could feel it. She didn't know how long she had slept and didn't get a chance to try and figure about memories of her previous argument with Zuko rushed to her. Suddenly her heart was in her stomach again and she felt terrible for him. She didn't know when he had lost his mother, but she knew he couldn't be much older than her and that she had never heard of Ozai having a Fire Lady, so it must have happened in his childhood. She sniffed and had trouble controlling her tears.

She looked over to him. He was laying down up against the wall, facing it. She wasn't sure if he was sleeping or not, but she quietly crawled over to him and gently pressed her hand against his shoulder. "Zuko," She called softly.

"Hmm?" He murmured, she must have woken him up.

"I'm sorry." She choked out. He heard the struggle in her voice and turned to her. She must have been crying.

"It's okay." He turned up onto his left side, back against the wall. He extended his left arm out to her and she looked at him with an obvious confused look on her face. He put his cheek down onto his shoulder, she mouthed 'oh' and laid down next to him, resting her head on his forearm.

"I'll promise to listen as long as you promise not to yell." She whispered.

"Mhm." He agreed. She sighed and wondered what she was doing. She was laying next to the prince of the Fire Nation, she was warm, but she was laying next to, no, on the guy that had been causing her all kinds of trouble. But this was the only place that she would get actual human contact. Those pirates were just monsters, she was sure of it, and if she was ever going to get away from them, she knew she needed Zuko. This felt wrong, it did, but this was the most comfort she had been in since she had been curled up in her sleeping bag just about a day ago. He was the only warm thing she had, he was her only human contact, he was her only hope of escaping...he was all she had left right now. She decided that she had might as well make the most of it while she could and she allowed herself to ease up. She had to pretend his arm was a weird, warm rock to do so, but it worked. Zuko was her only way out. She needed to get on good terms with him, and she supposed this was the odd start.

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**A/N:** I really hope you enjoyed it. Please tell me what you think!


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Oh my gosh, in the last chapter I accidentally spelled "wood" as "would" haha. I had reread the chapter twice before submitting and missed it TWICE haha what is wrong with me?

**BEWARE! **THIS WILL BE RATED** "M" **FOR** MATURE!**

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**Katara **shook from her sleep. She was freezing. She opened her eyes and realized that sometime during the night she had replaced Zuko's arm with her hand and that he had moved. 'But why would he?' She asked herself. She heard a struggle behind her, a small gasp escaped from her lips as she turned around only to see the Captain holding Zuko by his hair.

"You two belong to me now." The brute said as he slid the edge of his blade through Zuko's hair band. He then turned to Katara, knife still in hand. She gasped and pressed herself against the wall. He was going to cut her hair!

He grabbed her by her shoulder and pulled her towards him. "No!" She struggled, grabbing his arms trying to pull him off of her. She kicked and scratched and desperately tried to wiggle out of his grasp. He then grabbed her by her hair and pulled it, causing her to go to her tip-toes. She continued to claw at his arms and kick at his legs and stomach. Annoyed, he let out a growl as he pressed her between the wall and himself. Katara still continued to struggle, moving her head in every which direction she could. The Captain ignored this and hacked away at her hair despite her movements. Once he had gone all the way through, he stepped back and allowed her to sink to the floor.

"Get up." He demanded her. She covered her face with her hands and tried not to let him see her cry. He huffed, rolling his eyes and bending down to pick her up by her wrists. He turned and grabbed Zuko by his wrists as well, and led them up the stairs and to the right. He opened a door and shoved them into a small bathroom. "Wash yourselves of your previous owner's filth." He growled, slamming the door behind him.

Zuko stood with arms crossed over his hands. He watched as Katara ran her fingers through her now shoulder-length hair. It was a horrible, uneven, jagged cut. He knew hair was for some reason way more important to women than men. He also knew Katara was still welcome and wanted in the Water Tribe, while he had been banished from his home. The pirate had cut their ties with their homeland. Zuko didn't mind because his had been cut long ago, while Katara however, still belonged to the Southern Water Tribe.

He placed a hand on her shoulder. She sniffled, running her hands through her hair. "I'm not showering in front of you." She cried.

"You're an idiot, Katara." He blurted out. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped. What had he just called her?

"Excuse me?" She breathed, placing her hands on her hips.

"I am taking a shower," He said, looking down at the layer of dirt and dried blood that covered his body. "But that doesn't mean I'm taking my shorts off. You're a water bender. We can shower in our clothes and you can bend the water from them when we finish. They're only going to run the water for a short period of time, so if we both want to get clean we'll have to share the shower at the same time." Katara's hands fell. He was right about the shower, but he wasn't right about her being an idiot! She wanted to smack him on the arm, as she would Sokka or Aang for speaking to her like that, but he was covered in cuts and bruises. She didn't want to cause him anymore pain.

Zuko stepped into the shower just as the water started to flow from it. Katara followed in shortly after. She bent a small bubble from the water and began washing her now not only dirty, but ragged cut hair. She watched Zuko gently rub his arms, face twisting in pain. His cuts seriously needed to be cleaned. She could see how his skin had puffed up around the majority of them. She honestly felt so bad for him that she gathered a new, clean bubble of water and hovered her hands over his shoulder, allowing the water to mold over it.

"Excuse you," He breathed out, looking down to her. "I think I'm old enough to bathe myself, Katara." He said, batting at her hand. She moved her arm away just before his made contact.

"Ugh," She rolled her eyes at him. "Does this feel better or not?" She watched as he paused and thought about it.

"Yeah," He said in defeat as he leaned up against the wall of the shower. She took a deep breath in and closed her eyes, trying to calm her nerves.

She opened her eyes and gasped at the sight of the suddenly clear skin beneath her hands. "Oh my goodness." She breathed out, bewildered.

"What?"

"I just, I think I...I don't know." She took her hands away from his arm, looking at them wide-eyed, wondering if she had just done what she think she did. She looked up at him and saw he had raised his brow at her. "I've heard of this, but...I doubt that I..."

"What?" He asked, annoyed.

"My grandmother used to tell me stories of when my tribe was filled with other benders...some of them had the ability to heal and I...I think I just healed some of the cuts on your arm." She said, pointing to the only clear place on his arm. He looked down and couldn't believe his eyes. No dirt, no blood, no cut, no bruise. He was clean and wound free in the area she had covered in water.

She brought a new blob of water up to a lower part of his arm that was still covered in wounds. He moved away from her. "No." He said.

"What? Zuko, I can heal!" She protested, moving closer.

"No. They'll see." He told her, grabbing her by her wrist. She looked up to his face and saw the worry in his eyes. Katara understood. He didn't want them knowing she had waterbended. He didn't want them seeing that he had been healed. He didn't want them to botch up his body again with another beating.

"Oh," She sighed out, looking down. "At least let me see your back." She said looking up at him. She remembered him telling her about the worst of this was on his back. He huffed, but still turned to face away from her. She gasped at the sight of his back. In some places, his skin was merely reddened as if he just stayed out in the sun too long, but in other places he had blisters and some blotches that were covered in scabs. "Goodness, Zuko, you poor thing." Zuko rolled his eyes at her, even is she couldn't see him doing it. As if he had never dealt with a severe burn before.

She brought a layer of water to his back and took a deep breath in and watches as the water began to let off a small glow. It took her a while to do his whole back and due to her inexperience, some parts hadn't healed all the way. "There." She said, dropping the water and looking at his nearly clear back. He turned and grabbed a small cloth from the sink and began to rub away the dirt on his other arm while she took another bubble of water and helped with his arm and side closest to her.

She wasn't as dirty as he was and once she finished his arm and side it didn't take her long to remove the thin layer of dirt that had settled on her skin from being inside of the cell. She stepped out just had he finished washing his legs. The water cut not long after and she wondered if they had somehow watched, or if they had someone stationed by the door and he had heard her step out.

"Zuko," Katara called softly, getting his attention. He looked up from his legs and saw her standing there, a buckets worth of water hovering in the air in front of her.

"No." He said firmly. "Don't even think about it." He warned, stepping from the shower.

"Why not?" She couldn't believe he didn't want her bending at the pirates. They could escape!

"We're both tired and hungry." This was true. "I was nearly beat to death, Katara. We need to rest. I need to heal." He put his hand under the water, heating the area above his hand, causing the water to steam and evaporate before their eyes. "Just wait. We'll plan something out." He assured just before one of the buccaneers opened the door. He grabbed her first and tied her hands behind her back. He then took them both by the hands and led them back down to their cell.

The pirate had nearly slipped on the last step and after he placed Zuko and Katara in the cell, he fumbled with the key in his pocket and had trouble locking the door. Zuko registered him as clumsy, and as an easy target.

Zuko sat next to Katara against back wall and pulled his knees up to his chest. He waited about five minuets to assure the pirate was good and gone and that no one was in the storage area in front of the cell. As far as he knew, the coast was clear.

"I think I have an idea." He began. At this, Katara perked up and looked at him. He kept his voice low as he spoke. "I think the guy who took us down here was either drunk, or just plain clumsy, but I didn't smell anything on him, so I think it's the later." He pointed out and Katara nodded. "Once we rest and I heal, if he takes us down here again, while he's fumbling with the lock we'll open the door and take the key. We can shove him in here and go from there." Katara scrunched her face at this. 'and then go from there' she repeated in her head. Just like Sokka, never really thinking things through all the way. This was a good plan, but she worried about what to do after and tried to think of something herself.

"What if all of the men were on the deck?" She asked.

"I could fire bend, you could water bend. We're in the middle of the ocean, you'll have plenty of water."

"What if doesn't take us here again? Should we just wait until he does?"

"I suppose we could try. I think he'd be our best bet. Something tells me that not all the lights are on upstairs for him."

"That's mean, Zuko." Katara scolded.

"You're mean." He blurted out, teasing her. She smiled while she shook her head in face then fell and she let out a sigh as she looked down to cold, hard floor of the ship. She copied Zuko's position as she had done before, pulling her knees up and resting her arms on them. She hating sitting here in silence like this. She was used to always speaking with Aang or Sokka, always laughing about something or venting about their worries.

She pressed her cheek against her shoulder and looked to Zuko. She was surprised that he seemed to really not be all that bad. When she first saw that she was going to be stuck in here with him, she began to mentally prepare herself for him to be constantly belittling and degrading her, but he hasn't other than the one time he called her a peasant the night before. But that was true to her in her eyes. Sure her father was the chief, but being from the small, dinky Southern Tribe, that title didn't seem to mean much to the rest of the world. She had never been treated or pampered like a princess, she worked all day and everyday of her life since the raid that took her mother and countless others. She wondered what it was like growing up in a palace and getting anything and everything you wanted handed to you. She then smacked herself mentally. She needed to stop assuming that's what it was like growing up in the Fire Nation. From some of the things Zuko had said last night, it really didn't seem to be all that great.

"Zuko," She began, getting his attention. He turned his head to look at her. "Why were you after Aang?" She wasn't really surprised when he scowled at her, she had obviously struck a nerve.

"Why were you traveling with him?" He asked back.

"Zuko! -"

"I don't want to talk about it, Katara." He grumbled, turning away from her.

"Why not? What if I answered your question?" She paused, waiting for his response. There was none. "What, do I have to earn one of your stories with one of mine?" She asked, leaning towards him.

"That's personal, Katara. It's called trust, which yes, is something you have to earn." He growled, turning to glare at her. She tilted her head to the side and pressed her lips together.

"I'm trusting you right now, Zuko." He looked at her questioningly. "You could fire bend right here, right now. You're stronger than I am. You could strangle me, kill me."

"Well, you could bend the water from the air. You could turn it to a sharp piece of ice and slit my throat in my sleep." She rolled her eyes and huffed. He was so difficult!

She took in a deep breath before starting. "I was with Aang because my brother and I found him in a ice berg. So we left home to try to help him help the world. There, happy?"

"No." He grumbled.

"What? How!"

"That's not a good enough explanation!" He griped, tossing his hands in the air, speaking with them again. Before he could return his arms to his knees, Katara placed her cheek on one of them and glared up at him.

"Tell me why you were so hell-bent after him." She demanded.

"I..." He started, but paused and looked out into space. "I just..I had to or..." He shook his head and pressed his lips together, pressed his back against the wall and held his head down. Katara could tell he desperately wanted to cover his head with his arms as he had done the night before, but she was in the way.

She sighed, picking her head and resting her elbow on his knee. She then placed her chin onto the back of her hand and began speaking. "After I lost my mother I had a lot of new responsibilities forced onto me. Then my father and the rest of the men left in the Tribe to go fight in the war, leaving Sokka as the only one old enough who had a fighting chance of defending us. Him and I were out fishing one day when we found Aang in a iceberg. I cracked it open and out pops this little kid. He was so happy and he knew nothing about the war, he airbended in front of us and everything. I knew he was the avatar and I knew I needed to help him save the world. I wanted to. So, Sokka and I left our family and tried to get to the North Pole so Aang and I could learn waterbending. We were in a market when we came across the pirates merchant ship. I found the water scrolls, but we didn't have enough money to buy it, so I stole them. Then I was fishing down a river and they caught me...and now I'm here..." She paused, staring at the floor. "I just wanted to help. I hate the way the world is right now. I hate it. I hate the way babies are losing their parents and their homes. I hate living in constant fear and I didn't want that for anyone else anymore. I just wanted to help." She finished softly and looked up at him. He had been listening intensively, she could tell by the look of concern on his face.

She moved, allowing him to place one elbow on each knee. He laced his fingers together and placed in chin on them. He let out and sigh and stayed silent for quite some time. He then looked over to her and sighed again. He opened his mouth a bit and then shook his head. Her shoulders fell and he looked at him blankly. "I don't wanna talk about it." He whispered, looking away from her. She huffed and laid down onto her back in front of him. She shook her head and looked up to the ceiling. She was angry with him, but she figured he wouldn't tell her for a good reason, and she understood the whole trust issue thing. She pretty much had to force herself to tell her about why she had been traveling with the young avatar.

She then thought of something good to say and grabbed his leg to alert him. He leaned over to his left to look at her. "You uncle had joined us." She informed. He nodded his head, he had seen his uncle with Aang. "He promised to not to come after as and to teach Aang fire bending as long as we found you." She paused to sit up, leaned in towards him. "He seemed very lost without you, Zuko." She said gently. "He cried." Zuko's eyes widened at this, concerned. "He kept saying something about a Lu Tin." She said, waving her hand in the air and letting it drop, unaware of who he was speaking about. Zuko's mouth dropped and pressed his back against the wall. Katara watched him as he folded his arms over his knees and proceeded to bury his face into his arms. Katara scolded herself for telling him the last parts. His uncle was obviously a soft spot for him. She gave him a reassuring half smile, even though he couldn't see it before she lightly rested her cheek on his shoulder. She shook her head a let out a small laugh causing him to lift his head and look at her. "I just keep messing up." She breathed out, shaking her head. He slowly put his back down into his arms.

Katara then sat next to him and again copied his position again. She wondered what her brother, Aang, and Iroh were doing now, if they had found a trail, if they were on it, if they were trailing right behind them, where ever it was they were. She wondered if they had eaten any of the fish she had caught or if Iroh had taught Aang anything else about fire bending. She worried about Sokka, she had never been away from him for more than a day before, and she had no idea how long she would be stuck on this boat. She hoped Aang was still practicing water bending and if he was focusing on trying to learn fire bending. She didn't want them to worry about her too much. She figured she would be okay, she had been given a small bowl of rice and she hadn't been beaten... at least not yet.

It was beginning to get cold again and she wondered what time of day it was. She hated not be able to see the sky or be around water she could see. Zuko had mentioned that she could bend water from the air. She had never thought of that before and tried it. It worked. She had no idea she could do that was happy to know that she could, but Zuko didn't want her bending at anyone just yet, and she dropped the water when she heard footsteps coming down the stair case. It was a pirate she didn't recognize. He had small bowl of rice in his hand. She watched as he dropped and kicked it through the bars of the cell. She had just realized that the bowl from last night had been missing. They must have taken it while her and Zuko were in the shower.

She watched him leave and then she took her attention to the small bowl of rice on the floor before her. Just one, she realized. Just one, small bowl of rice. Why only one? Perhaps they thought Zuko was asleep, but there was no way they could have known that she was the only one alert. She then realized that they must have only brought one bowl of rice last night and that Zuko had lied about been given one. 'Why would he do that' she wondered, looking over to him.

Katara suddenly felt so tired. It was exhausting being in the cell all day doing nothing. She wanted to be out, flying around on Appa with her brother and Aang one their way to the North Pole. She wanted to learn water bending so bad. She picked up the small puddle of water from when she had dropped the water she had collected from the air and began toying with it. It wasn't much, but she could at least try to learn the push and pull of the water better. She didn't want to take much more from the air because what would she do with it when one of the men came down? She continued to play with her small bit of water, though. She push and pulled it between her two hands, tossed it into the air and caught it just before it came in contact with the floor. She bent it into shapes and froze it, only to turn it back to it's liquid form to make a new shape and repeat the process again and again.

She paused for a moment when she noticed Zuko stirring. He lifted his chin to his arms. She leaned forward and grabbed the bowl of rice. "Here," She said, holding it to him. He shook his head and waved her off. "Take it." She held it closer towards him.

"You can have it." He told her.

"No, I've already had mine." She lied obviously. He glared and snarled at her. She held it even closer to him.

"I don't want it." He said harshly, looking away from her.

"Well then I guess it's just going to sit here!" She slammed the bowl down onto the ground in front of them and went back to her water bending.

She continued her bending for quite some time. Her arms and hands were tired from moving them around so much, so she carelessly flung the water her right, causing it to drip down the wall. She sighed out and looked back at the bowl of rice. Zuko needed it more than she did, he needed to heal and she wasn't even sure what the last time he had eaten was. She only had one, small bite of rice last night, but she was still better off than he was. She picked up the bowl and grabbed his healed shoulder. He looked at her, then down to the rice. He shook his head and looked away.

"Zuko, you need to eat this."

"I don't want it, Katara." He repeated.

She huffed and squeezed his shoulder. "You need to eat. You need the energy to heal faster." Zuko shook his head. She rolled her eyes and placed the bowl on the floor again. "Please eat," She begged, leaning towards him. "For me?" She said in the sweetest voice she could muster up as she looked at him with puppy polar bear-dog eyes. He scoffed at her and shook his head again. "Why not!" She threw her hands in the air with frustration.

"I just don't want it!" He said, opening his arms out and looking down, away from her. Even though his stomach was completely empty, he just didn't feel hungry.

Katara wondered why he wasn't eating. He wanted to get out, he knew he needed to heal to do that. She then remembered a woman from her tribe. After her husband left for the war, she stopped eating and hardly left her tent. Everyone used the words 'depressed' and 'depression' to describe to Katara what her older friend had been feeling and going through. She then realized that this must be what Zuko was feeling because he's away from his uncle. She decided to ask and see if she could help him in any way.

"Is it because of your uncle?" She gently placed her hand onto his shoulder and leaned close to him. He glanced at her before looking back down to the floor.

"I don't know." He shook his head. "I've never been in a situation like this, scared of when my next beating would be, or my next meal." He said weakly. "The last time I was forced to do something I...I don't know." He looked away from her. She wasn't used to him, she didn't know him and she still had a lot of bad feelings towards him, but something compelled her to continue trying. He was very difficult, Sokka would have blurted his problems to her, and she would have already gotten Aang to tell her what he was feeling by now. Zuko just needed more assurance.

"It's okay, Zuko." She whispered, trying to soothe him. "I'm here, too." Katara didn't say this with an ignorant tone in her voice, when she said it she honestly meant it. She was here with him. She was in the same situation he was in. Away from her loved ones, out of her comfort zone. Scared and worried.

"The last time I was ever forced onto a ship was when I was banished. I was forced away from the people I loved. I had no on control, no idea when I was going to be able to return again, if I ever was. It's the same thing. It was hard enough the first time and now I have to do it again?" She scooted closer to him and ran her hand over his shoulder. "I can't stand being away from my uncle. He's the only person I'm certain I love and care for... and now... I don't know if I'll ever see him again." Zuko struggled to not cry and quickly looked down when a tear escaped from his eye. Katara put her arm around his back and leaned into him. He leaned his knee down, allowing her to slide between his legs. He pulled his knee back up and placed his arms on them once again, putting his arms around her without touching her. She now had both arms wrapped loosely around his neck. She rested her cheek on one shoulder and placed her hand on his other shoulder.

She had no idea that he had been banished or that he had been through something like this once before. She felt so badly for him and wondered why he had been banished. What had he done to deserve such a punishment? Who could have sent him away? The only person she figured had the authority to do was the only person ranking higher than he, which would be the Fire Lord. Had Zuko's father sent him away? She wanted to ask but knew this was not the time to ask such a question, especially to him. If it had been Ozai that sent him off, it became a little more clear to her as to why he had such a hard time trusting and opening up to people. Your father is someone you should trust to love you unconditionally and do anything for you, your father isn't someone you should have to tip toe around, careful not to upset them for fact you may just do something that made them want to send you away. What kind of father would disregard his own son?

Katara snuggled closer to him and held him a bit tighter. How horrible it must have been for him. To lose his mother and then be waved off by his father? For what? Had he hurt someone, killed someone? Zuko? 'No,' she thought to herself. Sure, Zuko seemed to have trouble with his anger but she was sure he couldn't hurt someone, much less take their life away. No, not Zuko. Not him.

She then began to think of her own father. She was angry with him for leaving her and Sokka not long after they had lost their mother, but she understood why he did it. He did it in hopes of being aid to the ending of the war. He did it for his children, and for his children's future children. He was trying to ensure that they would be able to grow up in a better place than he had. Katara knew that her father loved her no matter what and would do anything for her and her brother. In her mind, every father loved and protected their children unconditionally. She couldn't even imagine what it was like to not have a father as loving and caring as her own.

But she figured that this just wasn't the case for Zuko. She imagined him having to walk and talk a certain way, constantly having to be aware of every movement of his body, every word from his mouth, careful to not anger his father. She imagined him working endlessly, desperately trying to live up to his father's expectations. Desperately trying to earn his fathers love and acceptance. 'That's horrible' she thought to herself. No child, no one should ever have to do that.

Katara thought of how Zuko said that his uncle was the person he was sure he loved. His uncle over his own father. He must look to his uncle as his father, then. She wondered how long he had been out at sea with his uncle. She wondered if Zuko confided in Iroh with ease, or if even Iroh had trouble getting to his troubled nephew.

She continued to ponder about Zuko's life and slowly began to drift into a slumber, still nestled against Zuko.

* * *

Aang sobbed into his hands as Iroh assured that they would find Katara. He couldn't believe he allowed them to just take her. His only water bending teacher and one of his only friends. Not to mention he cared for her greatly in different way he had ever cared for someone before.

Aang tried to force her out of his mind and tried to stop crying. He sat and wiped his face with his sleeve.

"We should go down to the village and see if anyone knows which way the went." Iroh suggested, standing and holding his hand out to Aang. Aang took it and allowed Iroh to help him stand.

"You're right, but we should wait for Sokka."

"You should go looking for him, the longer wait the farther they get away from us." Aang nodded and motioned for Appa to come to him.

"We'll look for him from above, hopefully he's sitting in a clear patch somewhere near by." Aang said, lifting himself onto Appa with his airbending. He leaned over and held his hand out to help Iroh climb up. Once Iroh was on and situation Aang instructed him to hold on. Iroh held onto the side of Appa's saddle and nodded to Aang, letting him know he was ready. Aang smiled and commanded Appa to start flying. Iroh was startled by the lift off but soon became pretty comfortable with flying.

Aang and Iroh scanned through the tree's limbs, searching for a spot of blue to stand out from all of the browns and greens of the forest. Even Momo was soaring through the tree's dodging the trunks and landing on small limbs, searching for a sent.

Eventually, Momo caught onto one and flew up to Aang. He chattered and swooped down, knowing the avatar would follow him. Aang pulled Appa's reins up, telling him to fly down.

Aang hopped off before his bison could even land, Sokka was sitting, facing away from him.

"Sokka, we need to go into to town... find out if anyone saw which way they went." The water tribe boy stayed silent, but stood and turned towards Aang. It was obvious he had been crying, his eyes were red and puffy and he had streaks running down his face. "It's okay, Sokka. We'll find her." Aang said, placing a hand on Sokka's shoulder. Sokka yanked his shoulder away from Aang's grasp and climbed onto Appa.

"Oh," Sokka said at the sight of Iroh. "You're still here." He grumbled.

Iroh raised his brow before stating, "I'm keeping the promise I've made with the avatar, and I'm going to try to help find my nephew and your sister in anyway I can." Sokka sat with his arms crossed and scoffed at the old man before looking away, obviously still ticked about what had happened earlier in the day.

"It's going to be okay, Sokka. We'll find them." Aang chimed in, trying to stay positive. He guided Appa back to the pier and landed. He hopped off and noticed a news board not far ahead. He walked over and plucked the first paper he saw from the board. It was a paper on the most recent news, and informed people of a Fire Nation Navy ship that had exploded and a small cargo ship that been stolen by a group of pirates. "You guys, I think I found something!' He called out, motioning for them to join him at the news board. "This talks about Zuko's ship being blown up and a bunch of pirates stealing a boat! That's gotta be them! Someone has to know which way they went!" Aang said, taking the paper away from his face and looking around. He saw a small group of men helping another walk across the pier.

"Excuse me!" Aang called, running up them. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about the pirates that sole a mans ship the other day, would you?" He asked, taking a moment to look at them all individuality. One man was in the middle, needing help from two on each side. He was covered in marks, Aang wondered why, but tried not to stare.

"Well we sure do!" One of them barked out angrily. He was the one having to have help walking. "Those bunch of brutes beat me up and stole my ship! Then they went up the river! They crossed back by not long after, yellin' and hollerin' all kinds of terrible words at me! Callin' me names and what not." He ended sadly, looking down.

"Don't worry, you ain't none of them things." One of the men helping him assured, patting his back.

"They went that way?" Aang asked, pointing towards shore that lead up North West.

"Sure did! Probably went up to Yue Bay to do some theivin' up there."

"Okay, thank you!" Aang said, turned and ran back to Sokka and Iroh. "We've got a lead!" He said happily. "They said they probably went to Yue Bay!"

"There are a couple of other villages and a river they may have stopped at. Perhaps we should check them before we head straight there?" Iroh suggest, thinking of all the possible stops they may have made.

"Yeah, but we don't know how long that'll take." Aang said, climbing back onto Appa and turned to help Iroh back up. Sokka scurried up and took his seat at the front of the saddle. "We'll head to Yue Bay and ask around, if they've passed, we'll get more information, and if they haven't, we'll wait until they do."

"You mean if they do." Iroh said. He didn't mean to shoot down Aang's hope of finding his friend, but he didn't want him to get his hopes up too high and have to face a horrible disappointment. Aang's face and shoulders fell, but he tried to shake it off Appa began to lift up into the air. Aang sighed and set a course up the shore line to Yue Bay.

!

It had already gotten dark when they had just passed the river. They still had a little ways to go and probably get there so early in the morning that it would still be dark. Aang curled up on Appa's head and hoped that they would find Katara soon.

!

Morning arrived and Aang woke up, Appa had landed at the destination and began catching up on his own sleep. Aang slid down and joined Sokka and Iroh on the ground. He was surprised that they were both at ease, he would have to ask about that later. He rubbed his eyes and gawked at the large village.

"Wow," Aang started. "This could easily grow into a fully established city one day." He said, noting how many shops and homes had already been placed.

"Eh, I suppose it has some potential." Sokka shrugged, uninterested.

"I suppose we should start asking around." Aang said, heading towards the stores. Iroh and Sokka went their own ways to cover more ground.

After countless hours of asking around, doors being slammed in their faces, the three met back up at Appa at sun down with aching feet and empty stomachs.

"Any luck?" Aang asked, taking one of his shoes off to rub his aching foot.

"No." Sokka growled. Iroh simply shook his head.

"I guess we should just stay and see if they come by." Aang suggest.

"What if they went up the river? There must be villages scattered up it. If I remember correctly, Taku is closest to the mouth of the river." Iroh chimed in.

"Yeah but what if they pass by and we miss them?" Sokka asked, turning to face him.

"I'm sure we'd see them from the air. What if they did head up the river, and after raiding the villages they turn South East and head down the coast instead of North Western, towards us? If we're at the mouth, we've got a better chance of seeing them if they did go up the river." Sokka rocked back before letting his head fall into his hand. This was so difficult! There's so many what if's, but's, and other things to think of. He sighed and looked up at Aang. Aang looked back at him and shrugged, unsure of what to do as well.

"Iroh makes a good point." Aang said. Sokka huffed and made his way back up onto Appa's saddle. He turned and helped Iroh back up.

Appa began to fly again and the three sat in silence for a while before Iroh let out a yawn.

"Ahhh, I think it's time for me to get some shut eye." He said to no one in particular as he slid down to use the edge of the saddle as a head rest.

Sokka and Aang continued to sit in silence. Aang let out a huff and watched the waves break on the shore. He hoped that he'd see a small light in the middle of the dark sea and that this light would be coming off of the ship that held Katara and Zuko. The thought of Zuko reminded Aang to ask Sokka about his sudden ease around Iroh. He turned to face him.

"Did you and Iroh speak before I woke up?" He asked, hoping that everything was okay between the two.

"Yeah...he seems really nice. He promised me wasn't going to do anything and that he was honestly going to teach you fire bending. Plus he fed me some greatly cooked fish and some really great tea." Aang laughed at this, Sokka liked anyone who put food in his stomach.

"Yeah, he does seem nice. I think I trust him pretty well." Aang said, looking at Zuko's sleeping uncle. "He's really reassuring." Aang added. Sokka nodded and laid down onto his back. He looked up the stars that were just starting to show and wished they'd guide him to his baby sister. He even prayed to the moon and ocean spirit, which was pretty big for him. He knew spirits and such existed, but he didn't exactly believe in them.

* * *

**A/N:** I hope you guys enjoy this! Please tell me what you think!


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **

**WARNING!**

**THIS CHAPTER IS RATED "M"**

**Language, violence, sexual situations.**

* * *

**"Aw," **The Pirate Captain laughed as he pressed his key into the lock. "Look at you two," Katara's eyes fluttered open as he stepped towards her. 'Why was he saying that?' She asked herself. She wiped her eyes and looked around, she was still sitting up against Zuko from the night before. Katara looked up at him and saw him scowling towards the pirate standing before them. She followed Zuko's gaze only to see a grubby hand coming towards her. She hissed has he grabbed her bruised and damaged shoulder, pulling her upwards. "That's only allowed in one place on my ship," He growled, looking her straight into her sleepy blue eyes, filling them with fear. "and you're about to find out."

She furrowed her brow in confusion as he pushed out of the cell. 'What did he mean by that?' Another pirate had been standing in the door, ready to catch her has she fell forward. Two other men had also slipped into the cell to hold Zuko and guide him to where ever it was they were going.

Katara looked back to Zuko. He wasn't struggling or fighting, he seemed as if he were still trying to wake up. So was she, but he was obviously more confused as to what was happening than she was. She didn't get to look at him long before the brute that was holding her pressed his hand against her mouth to make her face forward. She immediately flinched back. She hated their dirty hands touching her.

The men followed their captain up the stairs, this was the first time Katara ever got a good look at the hallway. The ceilings were so low, she was surprised none of the men had to lean down, but she did notice The Captain's hat constantly brush against the ceiling. She rolled her eyes at this. He could just take it off, how important was it that it had to be on his head at all times?

The Captain swung a door open and allowed his men to throw his prisoners onto a small bed that went across the far wall of the room. Katara and Zuko simultaneously sat facing the group of thieves, pressing their backs against the wall, wondering what was going to happen next. "So," The Captain spoke. "If you're comfortable enough to fuck in my cell, I'm sure you're comfortable enough to do it here." He said, motioning to the bed they were sitting on.

"What?" Katara asked aloud, tilting her head. She had never heard that word before and had no idea what it meant. She looked over to Zuko and was taken back when she saw absolute, pure horror in his eyes. She looked around, confused. 'What did we do?'.

She jumped when The Captain suddenly pushed her shoulder, causing her to fall back. The mattress was thin, and she hit her head on the floor when she landed. She slammed her eyes shut in pain and used her elbows to prob herself up. She could feel something over her and she shrieked when she opened her eyes, seeing The Captain hovering over her.

Katara turned away from her just as Zuko sent a fire blast at him. 'What!' She turned over onto her stomach and looked up. A pirate had already lunged himself onto Zuko, tackling him into the wall.

Katara lay there, stunned as she watched Zuko free his left arm from between himself and the wall to punch man square in the face. Zuko used this window of opportunity to kick the buccaneer off of him and onto the floor. Two more men came towards him. Zuko singled one out and punched him before he could reach him. The other one grabbed Zuko by the arm and fell on top of him. The pirate quickly put all his weight onto Zuko's smaller frame, pinning him to the mattress. Just as Zuko lit a flame into his right hand, another pirate grabbed his arm and pinned it down onto the bed. One of the men that had slipped out of the room came back with rounds of chain in his arms. "Found these earlier." He held them out to Captain.

"Chain him down." The Captain ordered, grabbing Katara by her arm and press her up against the wall. She was still to stunned and focused on Zuko to notice. She had no idea what was going on, or why Zuko was acting in such a way. He had said to not water bend and to not fight them yet. What did The Captain mean? What was happening? What was going to happen that had Zuko so scared? The word 'terrified' popped into her mind.

As the crew member dropped most of the chains onto the bed next to Zuko, he pulled one up, revealing that these were cuffs. As he chained Zuko's wrists to the bars of the cheap, old headboard that rested against the wall, the man that had pressed himself onto Zuko stood, and went to grab him by the leg. Zuko immediately protested and went to kick him. The pirate dodged, and grabbed him by the ankle, pressing his leg down into the mattress. Zuko crossed his leg over the other to kick him in the face. The brute shook it off and grabbed his leg with both hands as another pirate punched him in the mouth, then kicked him in the side as a quick punishment. Blood began to pool in the canyon between Zuko's lip and trickle down his cheek and onto his neck.

Katara shook out of her daze at the sight of this and lunged towards the man who hit Zuko, only to be held back The Captain's grasp. He pulled her close to him and wrapped his arms around her to make sure she was secure. She began to try to wiggle out of his hold, but was unable to, so she used her legs and began to kick at him. He scoffed and put one of his legs over both of hers, using the wall for support as he balanced on one foot.

The Captain waited for Zuko to be cuffed down onto the bed and once he was he held Katara with one arm and used his other to tear through her lower bindings and slip his hand down to rub her lower private area.

"Ew!" She cried out in disgust. "Don't touch me there!" Struggling to free herself of his grasp, she bent her head down and dug her teeth into his arm. The Captain let out a short yell in pain before throwing her down onto the bed next to Zuko.

"I am so tired of you doing that!" He exclaimed, point down at her. "I'll give you something to use your mouth on!" He growled, grabbing her by her hair, twisting it around his hand as he pressed her face down into the space between Zuko's legs.

!

Tears streamed down Katara's face and covered her cheeks as The Captain lifted her up by her hair and tugged her forward, forcing her to straddle Zuko, who had tried his best to cover his face with his arms. They had put a pair of short cuffs on her after she bent some water from the air. They knew that she wasn't skilled enough in the art of waterbending to be able to do it with simple flicks of the wrist or small finger movements. She needed to be able to fully use and extend her arms if she wanted to bend properly.

She sniffed, and opened her eyes for the first time in a while. Katara ignored the small audience of sick men that were standing around her, hands buried into their pants. She saw Zuko's wounded torso under her and noticed his ragged breathing. Her gaze slowly trailed up to his arms. He was using them to try to cover his face the best he could. There was a thin space between them and she could tell that he had his jaw clinched tight. His lips were pressed together and his eyes were slammed shut. He was trying to ignore everything that was happening and block it out. This made her even angrier than she already was.

She felt as if he had checked out and left her to deal and go through this alone. His arm had been her make-shift pillow on the first night, and her blanket on the second. Now, she wanted them to not only serve as her blanket a second time, but as her shield for the first. She just wanted him to hold her, to comfort her and to protect her from the horrors around her. The Captains sudden placing of his hand onto her back shook her from this fantasy.

She let out a loud shriek of pain when he forced her down onto Zuko. She dug her nails into his flesh and clawed down his chest and stomach, stopping just below his navel, leaving a long, crooked trail of broken skin along his torso. All of her muscles stiffened, and she shook terribly, sobbing as The Captain grabbed her by the hips and forced her grind against the male below her.

This went on for quite some time before one of the pirates scoffed and motioned towards Zuko. "He can't do it." The Captain laughed at this and finally took his hands from Katara's hips.

"This too_ awkward_ for you?" He laughed, pulling Katara up and dropping her to the ground, quickly twisting her hair around his hand again to keep her under his control. She stared down at the ground and could only hear them unchaining Zuko before they drug him through her range of sight. The Captain lifted her by her hair once again, following his crew to the small bathroom her and Zuko had used the day before.

They threw them into it once again and closed the door behind them. Zuko slammed into the shower wall before sliding down onto the floor. Katara managed to catch herself before she hit the floor. She continued to sob a she curled up into the corner of the shower. The water shot on, cold at first before slowly warming up. Katara tried to stop crying, but tears still ran her cheeks as she tried to clean away the blood that had dripped down her thighs. Her breath was seriously unsteady, she pressed her back against the wall and tried to calm down. The room was filling with steam and it became very hard to breathe, so she held her breath for a short while, and then slowly let it out before taking in slow, deep breaths. Once she was sure she was okay, she looked over to Zuko.

He was still in the position he had landed in, on his left side, facing the door to the shower. She remembered a pirate hitting him the face pretty hard, so she crawled over and leaned down in front of his face, using her left elbow to hold herself up.

"Let me see." She choked out, slowly putting her fingertips onto his lower lip, slightly pulling it down to make sure he hadn't lost any teeth. His mouth seemed to be okay, only his lip had been busted. "Do you want me to heal it?" She asked. He continued to lay there, staring out into space. "Zuko?" She called, no answer. She looked at him and noticed his eyes had dulled dramatically. She freaked, and leaned back to make sure his chest would rise and fall with his breath. It did, thankfully. "Zuko." She called. Again, he refused to answer her.

Katara huffed and pushed him up and against the wall into a sitting position. "Zuko, don't do this!" Her breath caught in her throat and tears welt up in her eyes. She pressed her hand against his shoulder and called for him again. When he continued to stay silent, she sat between his legs with her legs folded under her, placed his cheeks firmly into her hands, and looked him in the eyes. "Zuko, please!" She begged. "Please, please don't block me out, Zuko please!" She shrieked, shaking him a bit. His eyes flicked over and he focused onto her. "Please, please, please." She huffed, trying to get her breathing under control again. "I need you." Her voice broke and tears streamed down her face.

Zuko blinked and slowly brought his knees up, placing his elbows on them as always. He pressed his lips against her cheek without actually kissing her and slowly wrapped his arms tightly around her, before slowly leaning his head down, nesting his cheek into the crook of her neck.

Katara shook, and tried to regain control of her breathing. She wrapped her arms around Zuko's neck and curled up against him. She let out a long sigh and eased up, finally calming down. She couldn't believe by how safe she felt once he had his arms around her. She didn't even care that she was half naked or that he was completely. Or that he had been the enemy, or that she was away from her brother, held prisoner on a stolen ship, had just been force raped and had been forced to rape at the same time. It was as if everything else had disintegrated and it was just her and Zuko wrapped in each others arms. She let out a long sigh and realized that was all that mattered to her right now. She placed a hand on the back of his neck and held him tighter with her other arm. All she wanted to do was get off of this sorry excuse for a ship with him alive. She would get back to her brother and Aang later, right now Zuko was the only thing that mattered to her. She closed her eyes and wondered what caused this sudden need for him.

He was the only one on this boat with her. He was the only one being put into the same situations as she was, having to deal with the same things she was. Zuko was the only one who understood what she was going through and he would be the only one who knew or understood everything completely. He was exactly what she needed, the only one she needed 'And the only one you want with you' she concluded in her head. At this, she leaned back to face him, and covered his lips with hers. It took a second, but he returned the favor, gently and ever so slightly kissing her back. He broke the kiss and pressed his cheek against hers before returning his to his previous position. She sighed and rested her chin on his shoulder.

They stayed like this until the water began to run cold, then they moved under the shower head, out of the waters range. Katara wondered how they were controlling the water from a different location. Perhaps they would stop every other sink or shower on the ship, leaving the water on and only this shower on while they were on it. Once they wanted them to get out, they'd cut off the water supply to whole ship until the left, then come in here and turn this shower off so they could cut the water back on and used other sinks or showers as they pleased. Katara stretched her arm about above her, reaching her hand towards the knob that she guessed was the one you turned to turn the water on or off, but before she could grab it the water cut and the door swung open.

One of the crew members entered, with a new change of clothes in hand. He threw them on the ground and told them to 'hurry up' and that he didn't 'have all day'. They slipped on the clothes, which consisted of only one thin shirt and one thin pair of pants for each of them before three more men showed up to take them back to their cell. They made their way back to their cell without any struggle. Katara went in first and just as Zuko stepped into the cell, The Captains voice rung out from the bottom of the stairs telling him to stop.

He made his way his way over to Zuko and grabbed him by the back of the shirt. "You think you can try to fight us and get away with it?" He asked, turning Zuko and pushing him up the stairs. Katara jumped towards the opened cell door, but one of the men had stayed behind and closed it in her face. He belted out a laugh when he saw her crash into it. He waved her off and turned to aid in whatever it was that they were going to do to Zuko.

Katara held a bar in each hand tried not to cry again. She waited for a bit before slinking back to the far wall of the cell. There, she continued to cry until she hand no tears left. It wasn't long after she stopped crying when the men returned with Zuko. They swung the door open and dropped him onto the ground. He fell limply onto his left side.

Katara gasped went over to him. She covered her mouth with her hand and she was sure that if she hadn't already cried so much, she would be absolutely bawling right now. He had cuts, and even some gashes scattered across his body, with plenty of new bruises and welts to go along with them. His nose and mouth were bloodied and his right eye was already blackening. "Oh, Zuko." She sighed out, gazing at his battered body.

She laid down in front of him and wiggled closer to him. "It'll be okay," She whispered. "I could heal you, we could get out of here." She paused and took in a deep breath. "I'll be okay." She cried, wiggling a little closer to him. She allowed her eyes to slowly flutter shut as sleep took over her.

!

Katara woke up in what she figured to be the middle of the night, and saw Zuko still staring at her. She wondered if he had gotten any sleep. She opened her mouth to ask, but before she could he opened his.

"I'm so tired." He croaked out. Her heart skipped a beat and tears formed in her eyes. She understood completely. She gently placed her hand on the side of his face and ran her thumb over his cheek. "I don't wanna fight anymore," He struggled to say. Katara's face fell and she began to cry again.

"You don't have to."

"You know what I'd have to do if I didn't." Zuko's voice quivered and he looked away from her for just a moment before returning his focus on her eyes.

She huffed and took a sharp breath in. "Yeah." She cried, snuggling closer and curling against him. This meant he'd do as he was told without struggling. If they hadn't gone through what they did and he had suggested this earlier, she'd be livid, but seeing the direct aftermath of what one of his beatings looked like, she honestly didn't want him to fight, not until he was well enough to have a chance. She wondered if he would allow her to heal him now, maybe they could escape now... but then she figured that he was also mentally unstable. He needed to want to get out of here in order to be able to do it. She knew that right now, all he wanted to do was survive the night... at least she hoped that's what he wanted. She didn't want him leaving her in any form any time soon.

Katara rolled over and noticed another bowl of rice had been placed into the cell while they were sleeping. She reached out to grab and turned to face him. She held it and glared at him. "You're going to eat this." She told him, placing it down in front of him. "I'm not taking no for an answer." She said, sitting up. This surprisingly brought the smallest tug to the corners of his lips. His mind went back to when he was on his ship, he would have never of taken such an order from her, in fact, he wouldn't have taken any kind of orders from anyone back them. He turned over onto his back before opening his mouth wide enough for her to just be able to get the smallest bites into his mouth.

She slowly fed him the bowl of rice, she knew he hadn't eaten in days and she didn't want his body to reject it. She bent water from the air and placed it into the bowl before taking a sip. It seemed okay. This was the first drink of water she had in long time, she hadn't realized just how thirsty she was. She drank her fill before bending water for Zuko.

Once they were both hydrated, she placed the bowl back into the middle of the room and snuggled close to Zuko and they both tried to get some much needed sleep.

* * *

Aang let out a sigh of relief as Appa touched the ground. They had finally reached the mouth of the river. He hopped off Appa and started to help make camp. He hoped this plan would work and that they would see the stolen cargo ship pass by within a couple of days.

Just as they had finished setting up, a boat passing by caught Aang's attention. "Guys," He called out. "Guys... guys! Look!" He yelled out, pointing out to the ocean. "It's the ship! It's them!" Aang lifted himself onto Appa and grabbed the reins. Just before he could shout out 'yip yip' Sokka's voice rang out.

"Wait!" He said, holding his arm up. "Are you sure!" He asked, looking up at Aang. Aang nodded and motioned for him and Iroh to climb back up onto Appa.

"I can't believe it! Not even a day of waiting and we've already found them!" Aang exclaimed, obviously excited and happy to have finally found his dear friend. He came up to the ship and Sokka and Iroh look over the side of Appa's saddle to the small ship below them. It's engines were cut at the sight of them.

"Appa is much too large to be landed of the deck." Iroh pointed out, Sokka nodded.

"Excuse you!" A small, old man came out from the door of the boat. "Is there a problem!" He yelled out, looking up at the group above him. Their shoulders dropped as they realized this wasn't the pirates stolen cargo ship.

"Uh, I'm looking for a ship just like this...except full of pirates!" Aang called out with a cheesy smile on his face that quickly faded when the old man let out a great laugh.

"Ha! Good luck!" He laughed. "These boats are small and built for quick transport. We're trading boats. Tons of us go along the shore line all day long, buddy." He said, pointing ahead of him to the ship that looked exactly like his that was about to pass them. "You'd have to stop every single one of them, and we don't take too kindly to those who get in our way. Time is money! Now, get away from my boat!" The man said, waving them away and turning to go back into his small ship.

Aang pulled on Appa's reins and took him back to camp. "I can't believe it." He breathed out, kicking the dirt in front of him before plopping down onto the ground.

"I'm sure we'll find them." Iroh assured, giving Aang a small smile even though the young boy was looking down, away from him.

Aang looked up and noticed Sokka still sitting in the saddle. "Sokka?" He called, stretching his back and neck to get a better look at him. Sokka's face was twisted with anger. "Are you okay?" Sokka ignored and Aang stood up. "Sokka, are you o-"

"No!" Sokka yelled out, turning to face Aang. "No, I am not okay, Aang!" He said, hopping out of the saddle. "Katara is my baby sister! You didn't grow up with her, you're not related, you don't love her! When my father left he gave me one order, he made me promise him one thing. ONE! One thing! To protect Katara and to keep her safe! I was giving one task to do, Aang! And I've let everybody down! Horribly!" Sokka's voice quivered with the last words. He bit down onto his lip and tried to keep himself together.

"Sokka, I care about Katara, too." Aang said softly, trying to calm his friend down.

"Then why'd you let them take her!" Sokka asked, leaning towards Aang.

"They were gunna kill her!"

"They probably already have!" Sokka shouted, throwing his arms into the air. "Or've done other terrible things to her! You're the avatar, Aang! You had the chance to save her but you didn't! So you obviously don't care about her too much!"

"They had a knife and everything!" Aang tried to defend himself against Sokka's rage.

"You could have airbended it out of his hand! Or gone into the avatar state! I wasn't there, I couldn't have done anything!" Sokka then turned and pointed to Iroh. "And you," He growled out. "I've heard of you. The great General Iroh, The Fire Prince, The Dragon of The West. You were able to enter the walls of Ba Sing Se, but you couldn't save a little girl from a bunch of pirates!"

Iroh sighed and stood, facing Sokka. "You're right, I am all of those things, and I'm not about to let you speak to me or the avatar that way." He said, motioning towards Aang. "He did the right thing by letting them take her and Zuko. Had either him or I made a single sudden movement, they would have slit their throats right before our very eyes. I understand what you're feeling and-"

"No, you don't! How could you possibly know what I'm feeling?" Sokka asked, turning his side towards Iroh and crossing his arms.

Iroh sighed once again and looked down. This kid was even worse than Zuko. "I know what it's like to lose someone that you specifically were supposed to protect." Iroh forced out, still looking away from the water tribe boy in front of him.

"Pft, please." Sokka rolled his eyes ignorantly as Aang watched. He furrowed his bow and wondered what Iroh was speaking about. Zuko? Yes, but... someone else. "Zuko doesn't count, he's just your nephew. How could you have possibly lost anyone as close to you as Katara is to me?" Sokka continued to ramble on, insulting Iroh when the name hit Aang like a pound of rocks. 'Lu Ten'.

"Sokka!" Aang barked out, standing up to face him. "Stop it." He demanded. "You know nothing about him. How could you possibly know what he's gone through?" Aang asked, mocking Sokka's previous questions to Iroh. Sokka strangled the air before storming off towards the shore line. Aang turned to Iroh and placed a hand gently on his shoulder. "I apologize for him. He's got the temper of a raging moose-lion."

"I understand what he's going through. Anger and guilt. He'll begin grieving soon, if we don't find her."

"We will." Aang said, giving Iroh's shoulder a small squeeze.

Iroh and Aang sat in front of the fire as Iroh began to brew a pot of nice, calming tea for all of them. Aang sighed and leaned back, wondering which boat Katara was on. He hoped she was okay and that they'd find her and Zuko soon, especially for Sokka's sake. Aang didn't know how long he could last before he totally lost it and freaked out over losing his little sister.

Aang looked over his shoulder and wondered if the pirates had gone up the river, and if perhaps the Gaang should start heading up it, or just sit here and wait it out.

* * *

**A/N: **Please leave a review and tell me what you think of this chapter! No one said anything about the Legend of Korra reference I made in the last chapter. They were at Yue Bay and Aang said it would be a great place to turn into a city. That's where him and Zuko built Republic City! Well..I thought it was clever...

And to the anon 'sam' who pointed out the pirates not taking Aang when they had the chance, that will be answered in a later chapter.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:**

**WARNING!**

**THIS CHAPTER IS RATED "M"**

**Language and sexual situations.**

* * *

**Zuko** had been awake for quite some time before Katara began to stir in her sleep. He opened his eyes to watch hers flutter open. She shifted onto her back a stretched before turning her face to look at him.

She smiled and asked if he slept well. "Yes," He lied. But this wasn't irregular, he hadn't slept well in years. He stiffened and his eyes focused on the far upper right hand corner of the cell. "What is that?" He croaked out. Katara turned and followed his gaze up to the ceiling.

"What's what?" She asked, looking at him over her shoulder. He began to push himself up and Katara quickly turned and put her hand gently onto his shoulder. "No," She ordered softly. "You stay down, I'll go look." She pressed him down onto the floor and stood. She made her way to the right side of the cell and looked up. "It's a vent," She said, standing under it, looking up. She furrowed her brow and listened closely. She could make up a bunch of muffled voices. How had he heard that? She got up on her tip toes, extending her arm to grab the lever that would open the vent.

"Don't!" He called, stopping her just before she opened it.

"Why?" She asked, looking over to him. "We could hear better."

"What if it creeks and they hear? We have to wait until it sounds like they're not in the room the other opening of the vent is in." Katara nodded and let go.

"You can hear better than I can, do you think you could make what they're saying if you came closer?" Zuko nodded and began to slowly push himself up. Katara quickly went over to him, kneeling in front of him and gently putting her arms around him to support him. He leaned onto her and she was surprised at how light he was. She looked him up and down and realized just how much muscle he was beginning to lose. His body had already begun to leech every ounce of energy it could. They slowly made their way over and sat under the vent, leaning against the wall.

Zuko sat in his usual position as Katara sat with her legs crossed in front of her. She leaned and gently placed her head on his shoulder. "Is there anything you would like me to heal?" She asked, shifting to look up at him.

"Yeah." He breathed out before laying down onto his stomach, placing his head into her lap. She pressed her lips together and covered her mouth with her hand. She hadn't looked at his back the night before and saw that they had obviously whipped him. She immediately saw the biggest gash and figured that it had been hurting him the most. She bent some water from the air, cleaned his wounds and tried to heal the biggest ones. She huffed and realized she was much too tired and weak to put the amount of energy she needed to fully heal them all. She had cleaned them well, and hoped that with no dirt or infection in it's way, they would all heal quickly.

Katara gently placed her hand on his shoulder blade and lightly ran her finger tips over his skin. She leaned back, resting on the wall as she closed her eyes. She wondered if anything was going to happen today, if the boys were okay, what they were doing, if they were going to ever come rescue them, if her and Zuko would have to escape, if they could ever save up the energy.

"Katara," The sound of his voice snatched her from her worries. She hummed shortly, answering him. He turned and looked up at her. "What did you do after you lost your mother?"

"Well," She breathed out, lightly running her knuckles down the length of his arm. "I didn't have much time for mourning. I had to help my grandmother heal the wounded, of course I had no idea I could have used water, so it was very tasking. I helped the older women with their children, even helped deliver some. I went hunting and fishing with Sokka. I was kept very busy, and I suppose that was a good thing, now." She concluded, thinking about what she would have done if she hadn't been so busy. She probably would have been a wreck, as some of the other children had been after their fathers left for the war.

"What about you?" She asked lowly, immediately wondering if she should have asked such a question to someone as mentally unstable as Zuko. He sighed and looked away from her. "I'm sorry." She blurted out. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked. You don' have to-"

"No, I'll tell you."

"Zuko, really, you don't have to."

"No, no." He insisted, waving her off. "I'll tell you." He sighed, looking back at her. "I uh," He began, turning and pushing himself up. He paused, trying to find the right words. "I completely lost it." He said, sitting next to her in his usual position, knees up to his chest with his elbows resting on them. "If you think I'm bad off now, you should have seen me then." He said, looking off into the distance. "I would start crying out of no where, I would collapse." He paused and swallowed hard before continuing. "The medics told my father I was suffering from severe depression. I had gotten so skinny, I was literally skin and bones. I remember waking up one time and them pouring water into my mouth. That's when they began to force feed me." Katara's eyes widened, and she leaned closer, snuggling against him, listening intensely.

* * *

**Time Warp**

Ozai creaked the door open, allowing a thin strip of light into the room. A nine year old Azula lay there in her bed, fast asleep. He slowly closed the door before making his way down the hall, noticing Zuko's door was wide open, and his bed was empty. Ozai scowled and turned, making his way down another hallway. 'This is the fourth time this week.' He thought, making his way up a few flights of stairs. He came to the open arch way that separated the stairs from a hall, and saw a small body laying curled up in the middle of the floor, lit dimly by the moonlight. "Zuko." He growled, walking towards him. "Prince Zuko." He called again, standing before his son. "Get up." Ozai demanded, glaring down. He huffed, rolling his eyes and bending down, grabbing Zuko by the arm, lifting him a bit. The prince's body dangled limply, his dull eyes staring off into space. Ozai sighed and picked him up, holding him bridle style in his arms. Ozai pressed his lips together, and something struck him, the father inside him. He took a deep breath, swallowing hard, forcing his tears back. Zuko had become so light, Ozai was sure he now weighed much less than his little sister.

Ozai slipped into his room and gently put Zuko down onto his bed, feeling every bone in his spine ripple over his palm. Ozai sat on the opposite side of the bed, facing away from his son.

"This has been going on far too long. You need to stop this," He growled out. "You will rule this nation one day, you must learn how to handle it. You can't keep letting family get in the way of your political duties, Prince Zuko." Ozai turned and looked at his son's limp body lay there on his bed. "You'll have a whole nation that depends on you." Ozai furrowed his brow, stood, and made his way back over to Zuko. He leaned, looking out the door way to make sure no one was around before he leaned over, pressing his ear on his son's chest, over the place his heart was. Ozai stood straight once he was sure he heard a steady heart beat and slid his arms under Zuko's body, lifting him up bridal style again.

Ozai took Zuko back to his own room and let him roll out of his arms, onto the bed before turning and leaving for the night.

!

Once morning came, the Fire Lord pressed his son's door opened and scowled down at him. Prince Zuko was still laying in the same position he had rolled into the night before. Ozai lifted him by the arm again, and pulled him off of the bed. "Get up." He ordered, pulling him higher, forcing him to choose between standing or sitting. "Go feed the turtle-ducks." He said, grabbing Zuko by the arm and pushing him forwards. Ozai lingered behind, making sure Zuko didn't fall to the ground before him.

!

Zuko sat, staring blankly into the space before him. He sat with his legs crossed, clenching a ball of bread tightly in his small hand, causing his knuckles to turn white. He sat just at the edge of the water. Zuko swayed back, then forward, allowing his eyes to slam shut as he fell face first into the water.

"Prince Zuko?" A passing guard called out. He panicked when the Fire Prince remained still. The guard rushed to him and fell to his knees, snatching Zuko out of the water. "Prince Zuko!" He called, placing his hand on the boys cheek. Zuko's head fell back as his body went completely limp.

Another guard ran up and supported the prince's head up. "We're going to have to take him to the medical floor." He said before looking over his shoulder to another guard. "Inform the Fire Lord, tell him his son will be taken to the infirmary!" The guard nodded and ran to find Ozai. The other guards gently picked Zuko and held his small, limp frame in their arms as they made their way into the Palace.

!

"Fire Lord Ozai," a medic greeted as he bowed before his leader. "Prince Zuko will be held here for a few days. We're going to keep an eye on him, try to get him to eat. We won't force him anything just yet, though." He said, looking down at the boy laying on the bed before him. Ozai scowled and clinched his fists.

"Did he collapse again?"

"Yes, sir, but this time, face first into the pond of the back garden."

"I see, and he recovered himself?"

"No, sir. One of the guards had to pull him out." The guard sighed and looked across the bed, over to Ozai. "My lord, if he doesn't make any progress, and continues to refuse the nutrition his body needs," He paused, noticing the small Fire Princess entering the room. "Well, he," He paused again, motioning to the child that now clung the Fire Lord's robes.

"Azula," Ozai called, looking down at her. "Go, we're speaking." He said, attempting to wave her away.

"I want to see Zuko!" She protested, grabbing her father's forearm. Ozai sighed, and picked her up, resting her on his hip. Azula's eyes widened and she let out a small gasp. She hadn't realized her brother had gotten so small, she could see every one of his ribs, his collar bone stuck out and his cheeks had sunk in dramatically. His hips bones stuck out and his legs were nothing but sticks. Frightened, she squirmed and tried to wiggle herself out of her father's arms. Ozai huffed and put her down.

"You wanted to see!" He scoffed as he watched her run out of the room.

"If Prince Zuko fails to recover soon, and if we're unable to successfully force him to eat, he won't make it passed the end of the month."

Ozai wrinkled his nose and turned, "Do what you will." He said, waving off the medic before making his way to his office.

!

Ozai was deep into his work when the door to his office suddenly opened. He looked around and wondered who would ever disturb him in such a way. He was sure he hadn't seen anyone enter the room when he suddenly felt a small hand on his leg. He turned, and saw Azula climbing up into his lap.

"Azula," He warned. "You know better than into interrupt me while I'm working."

"Is Zuko going to die?" She asked casually, looking up at him.

Ozai furrowed his brow and scowled down to her before allowing his face and shoulders to fall. "Perhaps." He said, leaning over her in attempt to continue working. Azula rolled out of her fathers lap and ran out of the room, closing the door behind her.

!

Azula lay patiently in her bed, facing away from the door. She saw the thin line of light pour into her room, before slowly being pushed out by the closing of the door. Once she was sure Ozai had passed her room and was far down the hall, she threw her clovers off her carefully arranged her pillows under them. She walked back and made sure that if anyone were to open her door, it would seem as if she was still in her bed. Azula slipped out of her room, carefully and silently closing her door. She tip-toed down the halls and stair wells, making her way to where Zuko was.

Once she reached his new room, she slipped in, closing the door behind her before she made her way to his bed, climbing into it next to him. She sat, and opened her mouth. Her original plans were to come in there and taunt him of his imminent death that would ensure her the throne, but she looked at the body before her. She had never seen someone so small. Even her dear friend Ty Lee, who was the thinnest of her small group of friends, had a healthy layer of meat covering her bones. Azula could have easily count the bones of her brother's skeleton if she wanted to. This honestly terrified her, and she looked at his dulled eyes. "Zuko, I know I'm mean to you and I tease you all the time," She began. "But," She paused, clinching her jaw shut and digging her nails into her palms. "You can't die." She cried, snaking her small fingers around his arm. "I miss mom, too!" She admitted for the first time, leaning in closer to him. "You just," She struggled. "You can't die, okay?" She looked at him, tears now making their way down her cheeks. She huffed at his silence and slid off the side off the bed. "You can't!" She ordered, desperately trying to compose herself as she jabbed him in the arm with her nail before turning and leaving him.

!

"Good news, Prince Zuko!" One of the medics began as he sat next to the Prince's bed. "Your uncle will be returning from his military leave soon. It took him quite some time to get everything together for his return, don't you think?" The medic paused, and tilted his head to the side, carefully looking for the rise and fall of the Fire Prince's chest. He gasped, and stood, realizing there wasn't one. "Zuko, Prince Zuko!" He called, shaking the boys body. A small group of other medics ran into the room at the sound of the shouts. "Hurry, alert the Fire Lord and call for Kyu!"

!

Ozai pushed passed the small group of medics and stood at the edge of the bed just as a medic he didn't recognize entered the room. The medic's immediately made a path for him, allowing him to stand at the other edge of the bed, across from Ozai. The medic covered his hands with gloves of electricity, and slowly began lowering them to Zuko's body. Ozai envied the medic's ability to so easily summon and control the powerful bolts of energy, but he quickly assured himself that he would continue his practicing and that he would get there.

Zuko's body convulsed as the medic gently placed his hands onto his chest for a short moment. He lifted his hands and waited for the prince to move on his own. "Again!" One of the other medics called out. Kyu had to repeat the process two more times before the prince began to gasp for air. "He's breathing! Grab the water!" One of the medics handed a picture of water over to Kyu. He slipped his hand under Zuko's head and gently poured water into his mouth. Zuko refused and spat the water out immediately. Kyu tried once more, and Ozai quickly pinched his sons nose and held him down by pressing his hand onto his chest. It was either suffocate or swallow. Zuko gulped the water and gasped for air, turning and coughing. "Good thinking, sir." He heard one of the medics say as he got a glimpse of Azula watching the whole thing from the door way, wide-eyed, obviously stunned and frightened.

!

"Hello, my nephew." Iroh said gently as he glided into the room. "It's been a while, hasn't it?" He asked, running his fingers through Zuko's hair. "Come, how about you and I go into the garden, I'll tell you all my stories of the Earth Kingdom while we feed the turtle-ducks and have a nice, hot cup of tea." Iroh paused, waiting for answer. "Would you like that?"

Zuko took in a deep breath before letting out a long sigh. He blinked and looked over to his uncle. Zuko nodded and and slowly pulled the covers off of him. Iroh pressed his lips together, holding in a gasp as he averted his eyes away from his nephew's body. He wrapped his arm around Zuko's back to support him, ignoring the fact that he could feel every one of his ribs and lump of his back bone.

Iroh let out small chuckle before looking over to his nephew. "Perhaps we should bring some extra bread with us." Zuko breathed out what Iroh figured to be a small laugh and nodded, lightly smiling up at his uncle.

* * *

**Zuko and Katara**

"That's when I began to recover and bond with my uncle... he had also been recovering from a crippling lose of a loved one. We helped each other." Zuko finished, looking over to Katara. She had obviously been crying. He gently rested his hand on her cheek and rubbed his thumb over her tan skin. She sighed and held his hand in hers.

"I'm so sorry, Zuko." She whispered out, closing her eyes and leaning down, placing her forehead onto his shoulder. "I had no idea," She whispered out. "I had no idea."

"Things are messed up everywhere in the world right now," Zuko said, slipping his fingers under her chin, gently pressing upwards to have her face him.

"I know, I know." She said, averting her blue eyes away from his amber ones. "I see that now." She looked back up at him just as he shifted his eyes upwards, to the vent. "Can you make out what they're saying?"

"They're walking around. I think they're about to come down here." He said scooting over closer to the right, away from the vent. He leaned forward and watched the stair case carefully. Katara looked over her shoulder at the sound of foot steps clanking down the stairs. One of the men opened the cell door while the other motioned for Zuko to come forwards.

"We're not through with you, yet." He growled before bringing his attention to Katara. Glaring at her through the corner of his eyes, he nodded his head towards the left, silently telling her get up before vocally saying it. "You get to play a big role in this little show." He grabbed her by the arm and twisted her to face the door before pushing her forwards to stand beside Zuko.

As they made their way up the stairs and into the hall, Katara saw Zuko suddenly tense up as he took in a deep, sharp breath. She looked up at him with worry in her eyes, and gently laced her fingers with his, giving them a small squeeze as she gave him a small, reassuring smile. He let out a sigh and looked away from her.

Katara bit her lip and looked down to the floor. She could tell he was trying to mentally prepare himself for whatever it was that was about to happen, he was going to try to block it out again. That was one of his defense mechanisms, she figured. He had rejected food the couple of days, just as he had when he was younger. He once blocked out his senses so well, he was unable to feel his body starving and shutting down, causing him suddenly collapse. Everything he had spoke about doing in the past, he was repeating here.

But back then, there was no one there who actually needed him. He had spoken about his little sister crying on that one night, but she had their father. Katara knew she needed him desperately in order to not only physically, but mentally make it out of this hell hole she had fallen into, but she could feel it in her gut that he needed her more. She huffed, and squeezed his fingers tighter just as they were coming up to the door of the room they had been thrown into the night before.

"Glad you could make it," The Captain's voice rang out. "The show is just about to begin." At this, him and his crew let out a laugh. Katara rolled her eyes at him laughing at his own joke. "Onto the bed." He said to Zuko, pointing to the mattress. Zuko stood still, hesitating for a good few seconds, before doing as he was told. This triggered another laugh from the Captain. "What?" He asked, still laughing a bit. "No fight this time?"

"Yeah, I wanted a rematch!" One of the crew members belted out, putting his fist into the air, causing another good laugh from him and the other pirates.

"Tch," The Captain rolled his eyes, waving them off. "It's probably a trick. Chain his arms to the bars of the headboard again." He said, as he suddenly pushed Katara onto the bed, causing her to land just at Zuko's feet. As she was trying to sit up, the Captain stepped over and ripped Zuko's pants from his legs. Katara immediately looked away, covering her now blushing cheeks with her hair. The Captain slipped his hand under her chin and grabbed her face, forcing her to look in Zuko's direction. "Jerk him off." He ordered. Katara pressed her lips together and looked down, she had no idea what he wanted her to do.

One of the crew members laughed as he motioned towards her. "She doesn't even know what it means!" The Captain smirked and turned her head to have her face him.

"You haven't got a dirty mouth, have you?"

"She does after last night!" One of the men exclaimed. Of course, this remark caused all of the pirate crew to burst out in laughter. Katara snatched her face from the Captain's hands and glared at the wall. She clinched her fists and thought hard about water bending. How dare they make fun of her like that, degrade her in such a way! Just as she lifted her hands to take water from the humid air, the Captain grabbed her by her wrists and forced her hands downwards, onto Zuko's member.

The Captain pulled her arms towards her before pulling them back up, forcing her to stroke the Fire Prince's privates. "There," He said, releasing his grasp on her wrists. "Get used to doing that, slut." He growled out, lightly smacking her on the cheek with the back of his hand.

Katara scowled and hid her face under her hair and between her arms while still following orders, though she still hadn't decided to water bend or not. Her mind was quickly made up after she glanced over to Zuko's leg, noticing all off the cuts and welts, she was reminded of what she may have to go through as a consequence of using her bending. She clinched her jaw and kept her eyes slammed shut as she struggled to not talk back or act out as she had to sit and take orders from a bunch of disgusting pirates. She wanted to stop and say 'no' each time one of them told her to 'go faster' or 'squeeze tighter'.

After what seemed like an eternity of hearing orders on where to place her hands and what to do with them, she felt Zuko's leg suddenly rub against her side. She opened her eyes and looked up to him. She figured he was panting by the way his chest rose and fell, and she watched the muscles tense and suddenly ease before tensing again.

She hissed and leaned back, immediately taking her hands off him when strings of thick, white liquid erupted from him. "No!" The Captain grabbed her by her wrists and forced her onto him again. "Nope, keep going."

Katara tensed and watched Zuko writhe around and shake. Once he let out a long, low growl as he tensed and shook terribly, she let go despite her previous orders to continue.

Surprisingly, they allowed her to stop and they took the cuffs off Zuko. Once again, a couple of the crew members guided them and pushed them into the shower.

Zuko turned quickly, before slamming face first into the wall. With his back against the tiles, he slowly slid down into a sitting position. He looked over to Katara and quickly averted his eyes away from her after seeing that she had already been looking at him. She let out a huff as the cold water began to rain over them. She leaned back against the wall and tried to peel the wet shirt away from her skin. Annoyed and frustrated, she gave and took her attention to the boy beside her.

"Zuko," She called out. He sighed and slowly turned to look at her. "Does it hurt when that happens?"

"It," He paused, trying to find the right words. "The actual...climax part," He said slowly. "No. But when you continue like that, the feeling gets kind of unbearable."

"Oh," She breathed out, looking down to watch the water hit the floor of the shower. She sighed and began to pull strands of water up before letting them fall and splash back onto the floor.

"I hate this." Zuko announced suddenly. She paused her waterbending, holding a strand of water still in the air. "This stuff is supposed to be like, beautiful and meaningful and stuff. Not forced and disgusting." Katara nodded in agreement before bringing her attention back to her bending. She paused again when she felt him gently grab her arm. "Come here," He said softly, pulling her towards him. He took her and rested her back against his chest as she wrapped his arms around her waist. He slipped his thumb under the rim of her pants and pulled up slightly.

"Zuko," She warned, looking up at him questioningly.

"Would you rather me do it here, where it's just us, or later, where it's us and bunch of brutes enjoying the show? Who knows what else they'd have me do, and you know they're probably going to have me do it sooner or later." Katara wrapped her arms tightly around his free one and rested her cheek on his bicep.

"Here." She answered, turning and looking up at him.

"We don't have to."

"No, it's okay." She assured, gazing into his eyes. "I trust you." She whispered. Zuko smiled ever so slightly before leaning down to kiss her. She smiled against his lips and tightened her grip on his arm as his hand slipped below her belt line.

After a few good minutes of petting, he was sure she was wet enough and he slipped a finger into her. He pumped in and out a few times before adding another. At this, she let out a small groan and leaned over, placing her cheek on his knee as she had done before. After a while passed, she began to pant heavily and placed a hand over her lower stomach.

Zuko breathed out and asked, "Is your stomach hot?" She nodded and closed her eyes, focusing on the feeling of pleasure he was giving her. At her answer, he slipped a third finger into and rubbed her nub with his thumb. She let out a cry and leaned over as she dug her nails into his arm. "Shh," He hushed her as he leaned over her before latching onto her neck. She moaned out and sat back up, pressing him against the wall. She pressed her cheek against her shoulder, forcing him to detach his mouth from her skin. He let out a small growl before swooping down and catching her mouth with his.

Katara let out a long moan, ending it with a squeal as she climaxed. She crossed her leg over his hand and rolled out of his arms, shuddering and panting on the floor before him. Zuko smiled and picked her up, carefully placing her into his lap. He brushed the hair from her face and kissed her, but broke the kiss quickly after realizing just how cold the water had gotten.

Again, the two sat under the shower head, out of the waters range while they waited for it be shut off. They waited patiently and Katara was sure they had waited at least another hour and the water still continued to run.

"This is annoying." She huffed out, bending a small strand of water upwards. She dropped the water once the shower head was cut off and waited for one of the crew members to open the door.

It took a few minutes, but the door finally opened and one of the buccaneers entered the room with a new change of clothes for the two. They changed quickly and followed him down into their cell.

Zuko immediately sat against the wall and he partially held is arms out, wanting Katara to enter them. She pressed her lips together and shook her head before simply sitting beside him.

"What?" He asked, stunned and confused by her actions. Just as he began to put his arm around her, she moved away from him. "What the hell, Katara?" She huffed and tangled her fingers into her hair at his words.

"I'm just confused right now, Zuko."

"You weren't confused when we were in the shower!" He shouted, extending his arm out into the direction of the bathroom.

"Don't yell at me!" She whined, wrinkling her nose at him. He sighed and dropped his arm.

"What are you so suddenly confused about?" He asked in an obviously annoyed tone, tilting his head to the side. She bit her lip and shook her head. "Katara," He said softly, remembering his promise to not yell at her as he gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "Talk to me."

She took in a deep breath and slammed her eyes shut. "I just," She breathed out, letting her hands fall from her hair and down into her lap. "You're the Fire Prince, Zuko." She stated, turning to look at him. "You've chased Sokka, Aang and I all over the place. You've caused me so much trouble and headache. I shouldn't feel the way I feel towards you. We've been on this ship, what? Four or five days?" She paused and looked at him, waiting for a response. Instead, he sat in silence and waited for her to continue, knowing there was more she wanted to say. She huffed and looked away from him, placing a hand on her upper arm. "All of these feelings are just crashing onto to me and coming over me so quickly. I don't understand it...and what if they only last while we're on the ship? What if it's just some kind of coping mechanism? What if I'm using you and I don't even know it?" She finished, slowly turning to look back at him.

"I get what you're saying. It's kind of scary how fast I started to like you. I thought you were going to be a total brat. I thought you were going to always be badmouthing me, constantly try to bring me down." He paused and glanced down before continuing. "But you're really sweet, Katara." She blushed and look down. "I'm trying really hard not to get all messed up again, and you help me a lot, even though I don't even think you know it," He paused, wrapping his fingers around her arm. "You're the only one who will ever truly understand what I'm going through here. I'm probably going to need you around for a long time."

Katara smiled and allowed him to pull her into his arms. She sighed before leaning forward, away from Zuko. "It just doesn't feel right." She breathed out, looking away from him.

"Would it help if I told you why I was so crazy about capturing the avatar?" He asked, leaning over to look at her. She turned towards him and nodded. Zuko bit his lip and hesitated before finally starting. "When I was thirteen, I was busy desperately trying to learn everything I could about the Fire Nation and how to rule it. It had been about two years since my mother left and I had done a lot of recovering with my uncle, so I was also trying to prove to my father that wasn't weak anymore. They were having a war council and I invited myself in, disregarding my uncles warning of how boring they could be. He had also told me to hold my tongue, but when I found out that they were planning on sending a bunch of new recruits out as bait for the Earth Kingdom Army, I spoke out against the plan, saying that those men loved their country and were fighting for it, and that we shouldn't betray and use them like that. I had spoken out against an old Generals plans, so when I was told I would have to be in an Agni Kai duel, I expected it was the old man I would be dueling, but because I had spoken out in the Fire Lords war room, it was taken as insult to the Fire Lord instead of the General I had spoken against. I had agreed quickly, unaware that I would have to-"

"Fight your own father," She interrupted, piecing the story together herself.

"Yeah, and I didn't want to fight him! So I literally begged him to forgive me, telling him I meant no disrespect, and that I had only been looking out for the well-being of the Fire Nation troops, that I was loyal. He told me that I would fight for my honor and that I'd learn respect, and suffering would be my teacher. Later, he told me that I had shown an act of great weakness and that in order to restore my honor, I'd have to find the avatar. He banished me, and that was my only ticket home."

"That's how you got your scar, isn't? Your father did that to you." She said softly, gently giving his shoulder a squeeze as she snuggled close into him, resting her cheek on his shoulder. "I've been so wrong about you, Zuko. I'm so sorry." He tightened his arms around her and rested his cheek on the nape of her neck. "You're a more honorable man than your father will ever hope to be, Zuko." Closing his eyes, he hoped sleep would come over him.

* * *

**A/N: **Sorry for the wait. Please tell me what you think! Was it worth it? I've already gotten a part of the next chapter written, so hopefully that will help keep the writers block at bay...


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:**

**WARNING!**

**THIS CHAPTER IS RATED "M"**

**Language and sexual situations.**

* * *

**Zuko** leaned back against the wall when he felt the waterbender begin to twist and turn in his arms. He loosened his grip on her and watched her face scrunch up before her eyes popped open. Katara quickly closed her eyes again and rubbed them, turning, resting her back against his chest. She let out a sigh after hearing her stomach grumble. She was starving, but there was still no bowl of rice in the middle of the room.

"Katara," The sudden sound of his voice sent shudders down her spine and gave her goose bumps. She hummed as she turned to look at him. "Did you mean what you said last night?" He asked softly, gazing into her eyes, searching for any hints of a lie.

"Of course, Zuko," She paused and scanned his face, his right eye was still surrounded by a nasty looking bruise and his lip was still puffy. "I'm your enemy, you should be trying to get rid of me. You've had so many chances to do so many horrible, dishonorable things, but you haven't."

Zuko huffed and leaned down, placing his forehead on her shoulder. He tensed up and pulled her closer to him before saying, "You're not my enemy, Katara." He paused and rested his chin on her shoulder, holding her even tighter. "We have to get through this. We have to get out of here. We have to do this together." Katara leaned forward, pulling away from him. She turned and stared, stunned by the sudden amount of determination in his voice. She sighed, letting a smile form upon her lips only to let it fade as quickly as it came.

"What happens afterwards?"

He paused and looked away from her. "I'm not sure," He admitted.

"Are you going to try to take Aang to the Fire Lord? Your uncle promised to teach him fire bending." Katara watched as he leaned back, completely loosening his grip on her. He rested his head on the wall and looked up, away from her. She watched his face flow through various emotions and she wondered what was going on inside his head.

Zuko huffed and pressed his lips together. He had been so bent on capturing the Avatar to return home, to restore his honor he had lost. The honor he had lost by trying to save a bunch of men's lives? Zuko furrowed his brow and looked to the side, scowling. That's not dishonorable, trying to save multiple lives. It's not weak to not want to fight your own father in a fire duel. How is trying to save the lives of Fire Nation troops disrespectful to the Fire Lord?

Katara watched as his face went from showing an emotion of confusion, worry, surprise, confusion again, a scowl, then back to confusion. She looked at him with worry in her eye and gently placed her hand on his shoulder, giving it a small squeeze. His eyes flicked over to her and focused.

With the squeeze of her hand, the realization hit him. He didn't have to present the avatar to his father to restore his rights to the throne, he could easily join the avatar. Help him defeat Ozai, help him bring an end to the war. With Ozai out of the way and the war ended, the throne would rightfully belong to him.

He shouldn't have to fight for his fathers love, acceptance, or approval. He had spent so many years trying to earn something that should have been given to him without hesitation or second thought, and he was tired. Ozai had tricked him into thinking it was his fault for his mothers disappearance. Ozai constantly brought Zuko down, gave him the cold shoulder, belittled him. It wasn't his fault, and he wasn't weak. Zuko had been done so wrong by his own father and he was only just now realizing it.

"Zuko," Katara called softly, tilting her head to the side. She watched as his face contorted with anger, but she also picked up hints of pain.

He strangled the air, fire erupting from his hands as he struggled to speak. "I...Agni!" He slammed the side of his fists into the floor before raking his hands through his hair, pulling it as he did. He buried his face into hand and leaned forwards.

Katara bit her lip with worry before doing as her instincts told her. She quickly wrapped her arms around his torso let him lean into her. She rested her chin on his shoulder and held him tighter when she felt him shake. She wasn't sure if he was crying, or if he was having a hard time keeping his anger under control.

"I'm so tired," He struggled out in a raspy voice. "I'm so tired." Katara slammed her eyes shut, trying not to cry. She held him tighter and pressed onto him, holding him up against the wall. She knew he was speaking about a kind of exhaustion no amount of sleep could remedy and she felt terrible not knowing how to help him. The only thing she figured she could do was be there for him.

!

Katara let out a growl when she felt herself being pried away from Zuko, someone pulling her away from him by the back of her shirt. She was in no mood for this today. She opened her eyes to see Zuko glaring up at the pirate. He stood though, without even having to be told. She huffed in annoyance when the man who pried her from Zuko pushed her out of the cell and up the stairs.

Once they reached the room, he pushed her down onto the bed and in reflex, she swung her arm back, back-handing him across the cheek.

"Why you little-!" He growled, snatching her up by her wrist. She immediately regretted her actions, instantly knowing she was in trouble just by the look in the pirates face.

Not wanting to get a beating, or worse, she blurted out an apology and trembled, avoiding eye contact. He ordered her to strip down nothing. She hesitated, but obeyed. She was ordered to touch Zuko, and she did, rubbing him to his full length. The pirate sat behind Katara, snaking his arms around her waist and upwards to cup her small, undeveloped breasts in his hands. He pressed her down onto Zuko before bucking his hips into her lower back, forcing her to grind on Zuko's hips. The marauder continued to thrust up against the girl in front of him, setting a pace for her and the boy below her.

Katara could feel the pirates member hardening against her and she hissed, arching her back away from him. He growled out and crossed his right arm over her stomach to take hold of her left hip. He tightened his grip on her and pulled her backwards, close to him. He latched onto her neck with his mouth and sucked hard. She put her cheek against her shoulder and tried not to gag. It was okay when Zuko had done it, but this man left her feeling absolutely disgusting and filthy. She took in a sharp breath and glared at the wall, trying not to cry. She bit her lip and held her head down as tears began to trail down her cheeks, causing the pirate behind her to burst into a fit of laughter.

She pressed her back against him, giving her a chance to slip her arms underneath his. She pushed his arms away from her as she tried to wiggle out of his grasp. This angered him and he roughly tightened his arms around her as he slammed his hips into her lower back. This sudden jolt of rough, off rhythm movement made Zuko hit her insides in the wrong way, causing a cry of pain to escape from her lips. Of course, the pirate this cry of pain the wrong way, and repeated his previous movements once more. Katara slapped her hand over her mouth, muffling her cry as tears poured from her eyes.

Zuko had covered his face with his arms and he growled into them as the muscles in his legs and lower abdomen began to twitch. The situation wasn't mentally pleasing or comfortable, but Katara was so tight around him and the physical pleasure over-powered him in his young age with his hormones raging. He let out a low, animal like growl as his muscles contracted for the final times, spilling his seed into the waterbender's core.

Zuko heard the pirate laugh as he stood. "You know where to go." He said as he left the room, closing the door behind him. Zuko slowly removed his hands from his face and the for first time looked around the room, realizing it was empty besides him and Katara. He sighed and looked over to her. Her sobs were calming, but she was still crying. He pressed his lips together and lightly ran the back of his fingers over the length of her arm. Her hand remained clasped over her mouth and eyes slammed shut. He sat up and grabbed her shirt, balling it up in his hand, holding it out in front of her, keeping his eyes averted away from her exposed chest. She sniffled, and slowly opened her eyes. She took her shirt and carefully slipped it on.

"Let's go." Zuko could barely make out what she had said, but figured it out when she lifted herself off of him. He pulled his pants up as he stood and made his way toward the door while she put her own pair of pants back on. Zuko placed his hand on the door and turned, waiting for her. She huffed and pressed pass him, opening the door and making her way down the hall to the bathroom with him trailing not far behind.

Katara let a small smile appear on her face when she noticed the water was already running. She sat under it and scrubbed at her neck when the pirated had kissed her.

"Katara," Zuko gently grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand away from her neck, noticing her skin was already turning red with irritation from her scrubbing. She sighed and let him pull her close. She hummed as she pressed her cheek against his shoulder. Zuko wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly, giving her a bear hug. He nuzzled the crook of her neck before leaving a trail of small, light kisses up her neck before stopping, latching onto the skin just below her ear. She closed her eyes and relaxed as he gently ran his hands over her body, randomly giving small squeezes, but never anywhere too intimate. He took his lips from the skin on her neck only to plant kisses on her shoulder, to her cheek, chin, nose, forehead, temple, but never her lips.

She opened her eyes and tugged on a stray string that had frayed from the bottom hem of his sleeve. Zuko was smart, doing what he was doing. He didn't dare touch her anymore than he was told to when they were in the room with the pirates, he only ever hugged her when they were in the cell, but when they were here in the shower, surrounded by water, by her element, he did everything he could to comfort her and to make her feel wanted, needed, and even loved instead of used.

"Clever," She said aloud, tilting her head to the side when she realized what he was doing.

"Hm?" He asked, pulling away to face her. She smiled and cupped his face with her hands before pulling him down to her, kissing him fully on the lips. She wrapped her arms loosely around his neck, letting them dangle over his shoulders.

She pulled away from him and gazed into his eyes. "You're clever." She repeated before kissing him again.

This time, he pulled away to speak. "I wouldn't use you." She nodded and rested her head on his shoulder.

They were both startled by the sudden cut of the water. This time, the pirates didn't allow the water to run cold, or for hours on end before they turned it off. The door opened and a new pair of clothes were thrown into the room before the door was shut.

Katara sighed and brushed her hair out of her face, it was still long enough to be pulled up, but she didn't have anything to tie it up with. It was annoying, having it constantly fall in front of her face. Her hair was so thick that during the day, if it was hot and humid, it felt as if she was wearing a fur hat and scarf.

Zuko led the way down to the cell and glided into the room before plopping down onto the steel floor, watching as Katara came in after him with two men trailing behind her to close and lock the door. Just as the two were leaving, another came in a small of bowl of rice. He handed it two Katara through the cell bars. She took and it turned, holding it out in front of Zuko.

He shook his head and motioned for her to take it.

"No," She breathed out, extending her arm out farther towards him.

"I heard your stomach this morning, Katara, you take it."

"You need it too, Zuko." She said, shoving the bowl into his chest and dropping it. He caught it before any could fall out.

"I'm not taking all of it!" He growled, glaring at her as he scooped some rice from the bowl with his hand before holding the bowl back out to her, boldly giving her the bigger half. She huffed and rolled her eyes at him, but ate it anyways. She didn't want him doing the starving himself thing again. She had also turned away from food when she had lost her mother, but not like he had. She had focused on the other members in her tribe and made sure they always ate before she did, she often had to skip meals and sometimes went a day or two without having an actual meal, causing her to lose some weight, but she never got terribly skinny.

She sighed and sat next to him.

"Zuko," She started softly, turning to look at him. "What is your relationship with you sister like?"

Zuko sighed as he pulled his knees up to chest, hugging them close to him. "Not so great. That one night was the only time she ever showed any compassion towards me, or spoke about our mother in such a manor. After that night, my relationship with my sister and father declined dramatically."

"What do you mean?" She asked, tilting her head to the side. Zuko folded his arms over his knees and looked away from her.

"I don't know... Azula had always been favored by my father, but my mother always favored me over Azula, but once she left I didn't have anyone for a while and it just seemed like my father blamed me for my mother's disappearance, and Azula showed me up at any chance she could get. The tension between us just grew and grew. I was so alone until my uncle came back from his military leave at Ba Sing Se."

"So, once you were banished, you and her never spoke? No letters?" Zuko let out a small laugh at the thought of Azula sitting down and carefully writing him a letter.

"No," He laughed. "The only letters I ever got were from Mai." He immediately bit his lip and wondered if that was something he should have said. Technically, he was currently cheating on Mai with the waterbender next to him.

"Mai?" She asked. Zuko listened closely for any hints of anger, but she had only asked him curiously.

He pressed his lips together and tried to hold back the smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth. "Yeah," He sighed out before realizing that his and Mai's relationship had also faded. His smile and shoulders dropped once he realized this. "She was my girlfriend, but we had a falling out a while back."

"Really?" Katara asked, leaning towards him as she crossed her arms. She felt a sudden pang of anger. Why hadn't he told her about this girl?

"Yeah. We used to write each other all the time, but then the letters slowly came to a stop about a year ago." She raised her brow and leaned back against the wall. They sat in silence for a few minutes before she finally turned back to him and boldly asked,

"Have you done anything with her?" Zuko scoffed and looked over to Katara with a smirk on his face.

"No, Katara. I was banished when I was thirteen, c'mon." She sat back against the wall and wondered what his exact age was. He had been banished at the age of thirteen, but lost contact with this girl Mai about a year ago, but Katara knew he was older than fourteen, he had to be. For some reason she was too embarrassed to directly ask how old he was, so she asked a different question that would give her the answer.

"How long were you out looking for Aang before now?"

"Just about three years." So he was either fifteen or sixteen, depending on how early his birthday was in the year.

They continued to sit in silence for awhile before Katara stated that she was sorry that Zuko didn't have a great relationship with his father or sister, and that's when she began to tell him stories about her own father and brother. She told him about how Sokka would make a fool of himself by trying to train with the older men, or by dressing up in full warrior gear, paint face and all. She told him about how they'd get their father to go penguin sledding with him, and how he'd managed to once get his mother-in-law to join before he left for the war. She also told him of the trouble Sokka would get himself into.

"Two fish hooks?" Zuko asked, astonished, wondering how someone could possibly manage to get two fish hooks in their thumb at one time.

"He tried to get the first fish hook out with the second one." This sent them both in a small, short fit of laughter.

"Wow." Zuko said, shaking his head at Sokka's stupidity. In return, he then told Katara about the time Azula had once managed to get herself caught in a tree, hanging upside down by her ankle. He told her that she had been trying to show their friend Ty Lee up in acrobatics, and ran up a tree, only to lose her footing and fall between two branches. Ty Lee of course helped her out immediately after realizing the princess had gotten stuck, but Zuko and Mai had literally fallen to ground in laughter. As a result, Azula caught their clothes on fire and pushed them into a fountain as punishment for laughing at her.

Zuko didn't have as many fun or happy memories with his sibling as Katara had, but the few he had were honestly pretty funny to him when he looked back on them now. He honestly wished that things had turned out differently. He wished their mother hadn't left, and that her and their father hadn't played favorites so obviously. Azula obviously lacked the love she needed from her mother, and she suffered from it even if she would never admit it. Perhaps if Ursa had spent more time with her daughter and Ozai with his son, they would all still be in the palace as a closer, happier family. But no.

Zuko sighed and wondered what went wrong. Was it some how his fault? Had he done something? Katara could feel the sudden change of emotion and placed her hand gently on his shoulder. "Zuko," She called softly. "Are you okay?" He nodded his head, but she knew he was lying. This made her angry, she had promised him that she would listen to him, and she felt that she had built up a good bit of trust with him, so why would he lie to her so obviously? Why would he lie to her at all? Why wouldn't he speak with her? Katara sighed and looked away from him. She shouldn't be taking it so personal or seriously, but for some reason his refusal to speak with her hurt her feelings. She'd wait it out and ask again later, but for now she'd make it known she was upset.

She lay down onto her side, sure that it would be night time soon. She watched silently as he laid down in front of her, and stretched his arms out to pull her close to him. Katara shook her head and pressed her hands onto his chest, pushing him away from her. Zuko furrowed his brow and asked her 'why not'. She shook her head and closed her eyes, waiting for sleep to come over her.

!

Katara stirred and woke from her sleep, opening her eyes only to see Zuko staring at her. He used his pointer finger to tap on the floor, silently telling her to come to him. She shook her head. Zuko huffed and wrinkled his nose, tapping the floor again. Katara covered her smile with hand and shook her head again. She honestly found his actions kind of cute, and pretty adorable. He wanted her close to him, but she protested. Katara let her hand fall from her mouth as she let out a long sigh. She wanted his arms around her, she did, but something held her back. She still felt a bit resentment towards him. She just couldn't get rid of that grudge. Even though she now understood why he was so hell-bent on catching the avatar, she still wished he hadn't gone after them the way he did. 'But what other way could have he of done it?' She asked herself in his defense. He had honestly thought that he had lost his honor when his father banished him. He honestly thought that bringing the avatar to his father would be the only way he could get it back. Zuko hadn't realized that he hadn't lost an ounce of honor, or that he didn't have to bring the avatar to his father to regain his place on the throne.

Now, instead of feeling angry towards Zuko, she felt angry towards herself. She shouldn't be living in the past, and she certainly shouldn't be using it against him. She needed him to be able to get out of this horrible situation they were in, and she wanted him with her afterwards. She let out a small sigh and admitted to herself that she liked him. She cared for him, and she only felt comfortable or safe when he had his arms around her.

She figured, if she went to Zuko now, it'd start a habit and she'd continue to go to him if he was around and they were together. But, if she stayed still, away from him, something told her that she wouldn't be able to fall into him as she had done before. So, this was it, she figured. Either admit and commit to her feelings towards him, or ignore them and keep them to herself the best she could. She bit her lip and looked at him. He was still looking at her, watching her. Again, he tapped the floor in front of him. She smiled and wiggled over towards him, snuggling against his chest.

"Sorry," She breathed out before planting a small kiss on the corner of his mouth. He smiled and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her closer to him. Her smile stayed as she allowed herself to fall asleep, wrapped in his arms.

* * *

Sokka shook from his sleep and sat up, rubbing his eyes. He was immediately confused at the site of a vast ocean before him. He stood and turned, noticing a silhouetted figure standing at the shore line. He took a couple steps forwards before realizing this person was female, with long, brown hair and a blue dress.

"Katara!" He shouted, now running towards her. "Katara!" He repeated, reaching out to her. Just as his hand fell onto her shoulder, she disintegrated into the sand. Sokka gasped and looked down, noticing a small, round compass half way buried into the sand. He picked it up and saw it pointing North, as all compasses do, but something else caught his eye. He tilted the compass in his hand and noticed a refection in the glass. He looked up and saw the large, full moon the night sky. He stood and stared for what seemed to years before he head a voice call out his name.

"Sokka!" It twisted into a mixture of familiar voices before finally Sokka matched it to it's owners face. "Sokka!" Aang called out, trying to shake him from his sleep.

"Huh? What, Aang? What's wrong?" Sokka asked, shielding his eyes from the bright sun light.

"You were yelling for Katara in your sleep. Were you dreaming about her?"

"Yeah..I think so," He started slowly, looking down at a small rock he had been squeezing. He must have picked up while he sleeping. "Aang, you're gunna think I'm crazy, but," He paused, looking up at the young avatar sitting beside him. "I think we should start heading towards the North Pole." Aang furrowed his brow and tilted his head.

"What?" He breathed out, bewildered at what Sokka was saying. "Shouldn't we stay here? Why do you suddenly think we should go to the North Pole? Was it your dream? Do you think Katara is there?"

"Slow down, Aang." Sokka said, sitting up. "Something is just telling me that we should start making our way there."

"Was it your dream?" Aang repeated.

"In my dream, I was at a beach and I think I saw Katara, I'm not sure. But just as a went to grab her, she disappeared. There was a compass and it.." He trailed off, looking to the smooth stone in his hand.

"Pointed North." Aang finished Sokka's sentence for him, nodding as he leaned back a bit, wondering if they should take the hint or stay put. He sighed and looked over his shoulder, hearing Iroh's foots steps walking towards them. "What do you think we should do, Iroh?" He asked, looking up at the retired General.

"We haven't gotten any leads here, and we'll only cause trouble by trying to stop every cargo boat that passes through. I think we should start heading towards the North Pole, if you're comfortable with it." He said, extending his hand out into the direction of the Northern Water Tribe. "In all honestly, I feel it, too. The sudden restlessness pulling at you."

"Yeah!" Sokka exclaimed, standing up. "That's exactly it!" Aang pouted and stood, using his airbending to lift him up.

"Wait, how come you two are getting all these spiritual feelings?" He asked, holding his arms out at his sides. "I'm the avatar! I should be getting these messages!" He jabbed himself in the chest with his thumb. Iroh let out a laugh and patted Aang on his shoulder, letting him know that it was something he shouldn't worry about. Sokka rolled up his sleeping back and tossed it up into Appa's saddle before gathering up the rest of his belongings. Aang and Iroh shortly followed suit before Aang stopped suddenly and looked over his shoulder to the river. "Do you guys think we should check up the river before we go?" He asked, turning to look in their direction. Sokka had already began making his way into Appa's saddle.

"The sooner we get to the North Pole, the sooner we figure out if my dream meant anything." Sokka pointed out, taking the reins into his hands. Aang hesitated, but followed Iroh into the sky bison's saddle.

"Actually," Aang started, "We should head up the river anyways. We're going to have to fly over some land and a lot of water to get to the North Pole, there should be a small village at the split in the river. Maybe we'll see the stolen cargo boat, we'll take turns keeping watch." Iroh and Sokka nodded and agreed that Sokka would take the first watch, Iroh the second, and Aang the last. The village wasn't too far, and they were sure that they'd be there in the morning.

* * *

**A/N: **Please leave a review and tell me what you think! Next chapter should be easier to write, and longer than this one :]


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:**

**BEWARE! **THIS WILL BE RATED** "M" **FOR** MATURE!**

* * *

**Zuko **stirred in his sleep and woke, Katara still snuggled close to him, still held tightly in his arms. He huffed and tried to carefully move his arm out from under the waterbender without waking her. She had kept her head on that arm all night, causing him to wake up with it numb and tingling. Zuko hated this feeling, but decided he would allow Katara to continue using his arm for a pillow for a while, at least until the feeling became absolutely uncomfortable. He let out a long sigh as he slowly turned onto his back, keeping his left arm as still as he could. He figured it was so early in the morning that no one else had woken yet, it was so quiet he was sure he could hear the pitter-patter of small paws making their way across the floor of the cargo boat's storage area. He wondered when the mice had gotten onto the boat. They could have sailed up and down the Earth Kingdom shore a thousand times. Maybe the boat has also been to other places, like Whale Tale Island, Kyoshi Island, perhaps even a port in the Fire Nation. Those little rodents may have sailed across just about every sea on the map and not even know it.

The Fire Prince's attention was averted upwards, towards the air vent once he began to hear the sound of muffled voices. He hadn't heard footsteps, so he figured that the pirates had already been in that room all morning. Zuko groaned and slowly began to slide his arm out from under Katara's cheek. He paused halfway, suddenly noticing how beautiful and peaceful she looked. A small amount of light had begun to seep into the room from the stairway and fall perfectly onto her face. He turned towards her a bit and gently ran the back of his fingers over her cheek, brushing strands of hair out of her face. He froze when she wrinkled her nose and curled up into a tighter ball than she had already been in. Zuko bit his lip and watched, silently hoping that he hadn't woken her. He let out a sigh of relief when she relaxed. His eyes slowly trailed down her face to her neck, focusing on her necklace- her mother's necklace. He ran his thumb over the stone and thought about how lucky she was to have it. All he had left of of his mother were memories. Memories that no matter how often or hard he thought of about them, were beginning to blur and fade away.

He forced the thought out of his mind and finally managed to slip his arm out from under the girls head. He pushed himself up, still looking at Katara's sleeping figure. Slowly, he put an arm over her and shifted to where he was hovering above her. Before completely pushing himself up, he planted a small kiss on her cheek and watched as she coiled up even more, a small smile tugging on her lips. Zuko stood, still gazing at her when a smile came across his own lips and butterflies began to flutter in his stomach. He hadn't felt kind that sudden rush since he first saw Mai sitting quietly, still, and alone at a small ball held only for Royal and a few, most important Noblemen and their families. He forced that thought out of his mind as well.

Zuko slowly made his way to the vent, standing as tall as he could to try to hear better. It sounded like only two were speaking. They were probably the only ones awake, other than Zuko. This was perfect, without anyone else up and moving about, making noise, it was quiet enough that Zuko could make out what they were saying.

"I told you, we don't need a bigger boat! We're wasting our time!" One of them growled, Zuko could easily match the voice to the owner. It was Oh, the one who stood in front of the ship trying to lure people in to buy their oddities. Zuko knew he was high-ranking on this boat, perhaps the Captain's right hand man.

"No, that Sky Bison could fly off with this boat, or sink it if it wanted to. We've only got one cell, if we're expecting more prisoner's we're going to need more room." The Captain's voice rang out.

"Bah! We don't need the Sky Bison or the lemur, we're sure to make a living just off the avatar alone. We should have gotten him when we had the chance!"

"Nonsense, the more money the better. Why do you think I want to sell the Fire Nation boy to that crazy old Admiral Mao guy?" Zuko furrowed his brow and stood on his toes. They were planning to do what with him?

"I'm pretty sure that guy's name is Zhao. You're crazier than I thought if you think he's going to pay us anything to get the boy, why would he want him?"

"That's the Fire Prince. Fire Lord Ozai banished him, sent him off to search for the avatar for the rest of his life, never to come home and cause him further embarrassment. Ozai wouldn't give us anything for him, in fact he'd probably want us to keep him as our prisoner. But the Admiral see's him as a threat. The Admiral want's the avatar, but so does the boy. If Mao Zhao, whatever his name has the boy held as his prisoner, he has no one to get in his way of capturing the avatar, but what he won't know is that we will have the avatar, and we're going to turn him into the Fire Lord. If we get a bigger boat, we can hide the sky bison inside it, along with the lemur and the avatar. We'll be getting money for the boy, the avatar, and he's rare pets. A fortune."

"Ahh, I see, and what about the girl?" This question caused the Captain to burst into a fit of laughter before he answered. **  
**

"Seems as though she's been broken in well enough. I'd say it's time we have our own fun with her, don't you think?" Zuko gasped and stood flat on his feet, turning at his torso to look at Katara. They were going to begin using her themselves! Zuko clinched his fist and glared up towards the vent. He wanted so desperately to send a deadly blast of fire up it, but he knew better. They had to get out. They had to get out and off this boat. Today.

Zuko took in a deep breath and tried to calm himself before he slowly and carefully made his way over to Katara. She had turned over onto her back while he had been eavesdropping, so he placed a knee on either side of her hips before leaning down to nuzzle the crook of her neck, gently waking her from her slumber. She squeaked and stretched, slowly opening her eyes to look at the teen hovering over her. "Katara," He purred, still nuzzling her as he slipped his arms around her sides to pull her off the floor a bit, closer to him.

"Hm?" She hummed, still trying to wake up properly.

"Would you like to leave today?" He asked, relaxing his arms and turning to look her in the eyes. She furrowed her brow and used her elbows to prob herself up.

"What?" She breathed, glaring at him. How dare he tease her like that.

"We need to leave today. I've got a plan." She relaxed a bit, but raised her brow at him. "It doesn't matter which pirate it is, but whoever it is, we're going to lock him in this cell. We're getting out of here today."

Katara huffed and laid back down onto the floor. She looked at the cell door and tried to play out the scenario in her mind, how were they going pull it off? And what had made Zuko so determined to get out so soon? What had him so... spooked?

She let out a sigh and slowly looked back up to him. "Why today?"

"We just have to." She looked into his eyes and saw pure determination, with hints of something else. Worry? She pressed her lips together and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him close.

"Okay," Her voice trembled with nerves. She wondered how they were going to get off the boat and why hadn't her brother, Aang, and Iroh found them yet? Were they even still looking? Just thinking about everything gave her a terrible headache, and she tried to not worry about what was going on too much. Right now, she needed to focus and put all her energy to following Zuko's lead and getting off this blasted boat. They had both began to lose weight, and she tell that he had not only lost mental strength, but physical as well. His arms had already gotten smaller with lose of muscle, and without a shirt she could count his ribs and see that his stomach had begun to sink in just as his cheeks had. They were both starving and even though she had slept pretty well last night, she still felt absolutely exhausted.

Zuko sat up and pressed his back against the wall, pulling his knees up to his chest as always. He sat silently, watching Katara's facial expressions change through various emotions before stopping at one he placed as tired. She slowly sat up, scooting over to sit next to him before placing her cheek on his shoulder. He smiled lightly as he took her hand in his, lacing their fingers together. He felt content, but he couldn't believe it. Being the situation he's in, he should be freaking out, literally worried sick, but he wasn't. He honestly felt pretty okay with Katara resting against him, her fingers locked between his.

He let out sigh, leaning his head back against the wall. What was going on? He shouldn't be feeling this way towards to her. She was a water peasant, he was a fire prince. Zuko frowned and rolled his eyes at himself._ "You're just as low as I am right now" _rang through his mind. She was right, he had lost his title a long time ago, and his ties with the Fire Nation had been cut. He no longer belonged to the Fire Nation, he wasn't needed, he wasn't wanted. For the first time in a very, very long time, he didn't want it either. At least, not it the way it was now. He had spent three long years hanging tight onto something, three long years fighting for something that wasn't there. He had been fighting for the great, happy, healthy Fire Nation that had been lost a long time ago. He'd be Fire Lord one day, he'd restore it's glory. It was his birth right, weather Azula or Ozai liked it or not.

Zuko's breath caught in his throat and he tensed up, he was honestly scaring himself. He bit his lip and realized just how fast everything was changing. Just about a week ago, his only goal was to capture the avatar, present him to his father and 'restore his honor'. Now it was as if he had a set of goals. Get off the boat with Katara, find his uncle and her brother and the avatar, join them and help them bring an end to the war, then return home and take his rightful place as Fire Lord.

He sighed and looked down to Katara. Thing's hadn't okay with Mai for a while, they hadn't spoken in so long. His feelings for her had also began to change. He wasn't even sure if he'd say they were still together, or if she even would. He loved Mai, he knew he did, be he also knew he needed Katara and cared for her greatly. Thing's wouldn't ever be the same between him and Mai again. Three years at sea and the situation he was in now had been changing him greatly, and he knew she would never be able to understand the things he had seen or gone through. He could tell her every little detail, he could paint pictures for her, but there would always be a wall there. The only person who would ever fully know and understand what he was going through was sitting, sleeping peacefully right next to him.

That's exactly where he wanted her to be. Right next to him. Just her, only her. He'd get himself and her off this boat safely, and he'd continue to stay with her afterwards. She was the only one he needed right now, and the only one he wanted.

Zuko sat silent and still, allowing Katara to continue sleeping. He had woken her up rather early, and she was going to need all the rest she could get for the plan he had for later today. Hours past by and he was sure it was the usual time that one of the pirates would come down and collect them, but they didn't. Zuko wondered what they were up to. They were probably trying to send a signal out to Zhao, letting him know that they had his biggest competition on board their boat. Maybe they were out looking for the avatar. Whatever it was they were doing, it sure was taking a long time.

Katara stirred in her sleep and woke rubbing her eyes. "What time do you think it is, Zuko?" She asked, yawning.

"Some time in the late afternoon. You've been sleeping a long time."

"Oh, so... what's the plan?" She asked, turning to look at him.

"When someone comes down to get us, I'll pull him in, you'll have to freeze him to the wall and somehow get a way to keep him quite." Katara pressed her lips together and looked away from him.

"You think I could freeze him to the wall?" She asked, doubting herself.

"You've been practicing, haven't you?" He leaned down closer to her.

"On a very small scale!" She pointed out, looking back up at him. He could tell she was worried by the look on her face.

"It's still practice." He assured, putting an arm around her.

They sat patiently, waiting for someone to come down. They had been waiting for hours, they were sure it was nearly dusk by the time they finally heard footsteps making their way down the stairs. It wasn't the clumsy man they had targeted earlier, but at least it was someone. Zuko nudged Katara with his arm and motioned towards the pirate making his way down the stairs. She looked up at him before looking at Zuko. He nodded and stood just as the man was putting the key into the lock.

"Eager, are ya?" The buccaneer asked, opening the door. Katara stood as Zuko slowly took a step towards the pirate. Just as Zuko had slipped past him, he grabbed his arm and flung him into the cell. "Hey!" He yelled. Katara immediately seeped a blob of water from the air and turned into a good sized block of ice. She pushed her arm forwards, sending the ice into the pirates mouth, leaving him unable to speak. He brought his hands up to his mouth and she took more water from the air, using it to freeze his wrists together, pulling the ice cuffs upwards, she forced him to hold his hands above his head. She took a step forward, pushing the ice up against the wall and freezing it against the steel. The man kicked violently before she cuffed and froze his legs to the wall as well.

Katara didn't even get a second to examine her work before Zuko had a hand wrapped firmly around her wrist, pulling her up the stairs behind him. They rushed onto the deck of the cargo boat, luckily, no one was there. Before anyone could realize they had escaped the cell, they had jumped off the side of the boat and into the river. They made it to the shore and bolted towards the forest that surrounded the river.

"I did it!" Katara exclaimed, having a hard time keeping up with Zuko.

"That's great!" He said, suddenly making a sharp turn to avoid running straight into a thorn bush. Katara hadn't noticed, and fell face first into it.

She let out a cry and rolled out of it and down onto her back. She hissed in pain and sat up, noticing a wad of white fur stuck into the bush. She tilted her head and reached for it. Just as she was about to grab it, Zuko came and grabbed her wrist, pulling her up to continue running.

"Come on! We have to put as much distance between us and them as we can!"

Katara continued to run with him as fast as she could, dodging other thorn bushes, tree limbs and stumps. She couldn't help but wonder what animal had gotten it's fur stuck in that bush. It couldn't possibly be Appa's or Momo's, could it? No, they would have flown over the forest.

Zuko slid to a stop when he realized he had ran into a clearing, an ally way to be exact. He held his arm out and caught Katara before she ran out too far. He stood in the shadow, watching people pass by the opening between two buildings. By the look and sound of things, there was some kind of celebration going on.

"Wow," She said, noticing how happy everyone seemed to be. "I wonder what's going on."

"I don't know," He said, slowly taking a couple steps forward, peeking out from behind the corner of the building. "Looks like some kind of masked celebration. This place is crawling with Fire Nation soldiers, though. They'll probably recognize me. Go get a couple of masks for us." Katara furrowed her brow and looked at him.

"Word has probably spread that your ship was blown to bits, Zuko. They all probably think you're dead."

"Yeah, and I'd like to keep it that way." He growled, scowling down at her. She raised her brow at him, but stepped out of the ally way to retrieve a pair of masks for them.

"Excuse me," She called, getting the attention of the mask kiosk owner. He looked over to her and smiled, silently asking if he could help her. "How much are these?" She asked, pointing to the masks.

"Oh, they're free. Are you traveling through here?" He asked, handing her a mask he thought she'd might like.

"Oh, yes, sir. What's the celebration for?" She ran her thumb over the blue paint of the mask, and picked a second one out for Zuko.

"Since the war usually causes so much sorrow, we try to keep it happy here, celebrating when ever we can. See, something went wrong with one of the cargo boats that was supposed to bring in new fabrics and foods, but when they sent in a different boat to make up for our lose, they accidentally sent in two boats, so we got double of we needed! Tons of extra merchandise is on sale, some even free. There would have been a fire work show tonight, had the avatar and his crazy friends not come through and blow them all up! But hey, at least Admiral Zhao has a lead on the boy, aye? And there will still be another stage show tonight, if you're intending on staying that long."

Katara's eyes widened and her breath caught in her throat. She pressed her lips together in attempt to not look so suddenly alarmed. Aang had been through here! Sokka and Iroh! They were here! It had been Appa or Momo's fur stuck in the thorn bush! Of course, Aang wouldn't have flown over a village that was crawling with Fire Nation soldiers. He must have told them to make their way through the forest, out of sight while he, Sokka, and Iroh put on masks and casually slipped through the village, right under everyone's nose.

"Oh, wow." She squeaked out. "T-thank you, sir. I appreciate it, have a good night!" She said, turning on her heel to return to Zuko.

She rushed to the ally way and handed Zuko his mask. He could tell by her rushed actions that something had happened and he asked what was up. "Aang has been through here, Zuko. Sokka, your uncle! We're sure to find them soon!" She exclaimed, jumping up a bit in glee. She couldn't believe they were so close!

"Oh, what did the merchant say?" Zuko asked, pulling the mask over his face. Katara's face and shoulders fell, he didn't seem too excited about the great news.

"Most things are free today, due to extra merchandise." She informed in a dull voice, unhappy with his unhappiness.

"Good, than we can hopefully find a change of clothes, and a bag to fill with food." He turned and stepped out of the ally way and into the street, looking around to figure out which shop he wanted to stop at first. He hated shopping.

Katara came up to his side, and motioned towards a shop that was obviously selling clothes. He nodded and made his way over, her following not far behind.

"Well, hey there!" The shop owner greeted loudly, waving at the two. Zuko groaned and rolled his eyes behind the mask. One of the most annoying things about shopping were the employee's. "Everything on this side is free." He said, pointing to the right side of the shop. Zuko picked out simple shirts and pants he figured would fit him, while Katara examined each item of clothing, carefully choosing the ones she liked that would fit her. He knew she was going to take her time, so he spotted a food stall and told he'd grab some, then return to her afterwards.

Zuko wasn't sure which foods she liked, but he was careful to pick things that could last a couple of days, mainly fruits and vegetables, taking only a small bag of fire flakes and another with jerky in as a treat. 'Luxury'. As long as they kept moving as much as they could and at a steady pace he figured they should be at the Northern shoreline in a few days.

He made his way back over to Katara, picking up a bag for the food and the extra changes of clothes she had picked out for herself. He nudged her arm to get her attention and motioned towards the back of the village, back into the woods. He opened the bag for her to put the clothes in, she folded them carefully and placed them into the bag before stepping forwards, making her way through the crowd with Zuko trailing not far behind. He slung the strap over his shoulder and quickened his pace to walk beside her.

Slowly, they walked passed a large wooden crate that had scorch marks all over it, this must have been where Aang had somehow managed to ignite the fireworks. Perhaps Iroh had done it as a distraction, she figured.

They stepped into the forest and after a short while noticed a beat down trail in the ground, leading them to a small stream, surrounded with little shacks scattered over the small slopes. Somehow, during their trek their fingers had intertwined together and Katara squeezed his hand when she head a voice calling out. She stopped and looked over shoulder, taking her mask off with her free hand.

"Hey, you two." A scruffy looking man called, stepping out a tent. "Where do you think you're going?" He asked, putting all his weight on one leg as he examined the two. He didn't sound angry, or even look too bothered.

"Oh, sorry." Katara breathed out. "We're just passing through!" She assured, taking a step forward, tugging at Zuko. He stood still, though. She paused and looked at him over her shoulder.

"Maybe they passed through here." He whispered, motioning towards the guy standing a good ways away from them.

"Hey, by any chance," She began, fidgeting. "Has the avatar passed through here?" That wasn't one of the safest questions to ask someone.

"Maybe he has, maybe he hasn't. Who are you to know?" The man asked, leaning towards her.

"I've been traveling with him, and so has my brother and his uncle." She said, nodding her head towards Zuko. "We were separated and we're trying to find them."

"Ah huh." He held his chin up and looked away from her, unimpressed.

"I'm Katara, Aang is one of my best friends, please, we need to know if he's been through here with my brother Sokka and his uncle Iroh."

"Iroh? General Iroh?" The guy asked, stepping towards Katara and Zuko. They both nodded. "Yeah, man, they passed through here not too long ago! They headed that way," He said, pointing North.

Katara nodded and thanked him before turning to continue making their way through the forest.

They walked for hours into the night through the forest before finally coming to a clearing. Katara huffed and suggested that they should rest there for the night.

"No," Zuko protested, standing still. "It looks like there's a small house up on the hill. We should at least make it past this place before we stop." He said, slipping his fingers from hers to begin making his way up the hill without her. She huffed again, but followed him anyways. Her feet were aching and going up the hill nearly seemed like she was going up a mountain, she was so exhausted, but it wasn't long before the made it to the top, realizing it was a small, scattered village of houses and personal, family farms. "Come on," Zuko called, holding his hand out to her. She took it, but paused, noticing a stream of light appearing on the grass before her.

"Hey, there!" An old woman's voice called out. Katara and Zuko both turned to look in the direction it was coming from. A woman had opened her back door and noticed the two trekking through her back property.

"Sorry!" Katara called out. "We're just passing through!" She started walking, pulling on Zuko again. She turned to look at him. He hadn't budged. "Zuko," She growled under her breath, pulling on his arm.

"Nonsense, you two." The old lady walked out into her back yard towards them. She came up to them and stopped, gawking at Zuko's wound covered arms. "You two look like you've been through it all. Come on in for the night, I don't mind." The woman turned on her heel and motioned for the two to follow her. Katara and Zuko looked at each other before shrugging in agreement and making their way down the hill a bit to the woman's home.

Katara stepped in and her mouth immediately began to water at the smell of fresh food. It was deep into the night, what on earth was this crazy old lady doing up and cooking? Zuko also smiled at the aroma of food as he carefully placed their bag down next to a shoe rack.

"I stay up at all odd hours of the night," The woman began. "So it's just about lunch time for me." She said, leading them into a small dining room. "It should be ready soon." She pulled a chair out and went into the kitchen. Zuko motioned for Katara to take the chair the woman had pulled out while he pulled another and sat, next to her.

They sat silently and waited until the woman came back in, a plate in either hand, covered with food.

"Oh, we couldn't possibly-" Katara started, looking up the woman.

"Nonsense, child. It'd be rude of me not to serve my guests, wouldn't it?"

"Ma'am, we were just passing through and-"

"We haven't had a decent meal in days, and also need a place to stay for the night." Zuko butted in, attempting to take full advantage of the woman's good deeds. Katara frowned and glared up at Zuko, silently scolding him.

"I really appreciate this ma'am, but I-" She tried to protest again.

"Call me Azumi, and please, I always make too much and end up having so much left overs, I usually don't even get to finish it all before it spoils. I still haven't gotten used to being the only one here, and you'd be helping me a great deal by eating with me tonight." Azumi smiled and patted Katara on the shoulder before disappearing into the kitchen to get drinks and her own plate of food.

"Katara," Zuko growled under his breath as he leaned over to his right to get closer to her. "We need this."

"This is wrong, Zuko."

"No, it's not. She offered." Zuko cleared his throat and sat up straight as Azumi glided back into the room, a picture of tea in one hand her own plate of food in the other. Zuko looked around the small table and noticed that three glasses and place mats had already been arranged onto the table. "Looks as though you were expecting us." He said, motioning towards the arrangement.

"Oh, no." Azumi began softly. "My husband passed long ago, and a few years ago my daughter left to travel around with a young Fire Nation soldier. Even though they're gone, I still like to set the table up for the three of us. We are still a family, after all." Azumi smiled sweetly and took a bite of her midnight snack, or for her, lunch. "You know, she was about your age when she ran off." She said, motioning towards Katara. "I've become very doubtful of her return. You two may stay in her room for the night. First room down the hall."

"I'm sorry for your lose, we appreciate your help greatly." Katara said as she bowed her head in gratitude towards the aged woman before her.

They sat around the table, slowly eating the food to avoid irritating their stomachs too much. It had been a long time since either Zuko or Katara had a decent meal. Azumi had asked what had happened to Zuko's arms, why the were traveling at such late hours, and why they both looked so rugged. They explained vaguely about how they had been held prisoners on a stolen cargo boat, and that the pirates had beaten Zuko repeatedly, and even left Katara's left shoulder bruised and damaged, skipping over the sexual parts entirely. Azumi expressed that she felt for them and she wished them the best of luck.

Finishing their midnight lunch, they stood and helped Azumi clear the table and do the dishes.

"Are you two together? Would you like for me to run you a bath?" She asked, placing the final plate in the cupboard. Zuko nodded and stood still as Azumi pressed pass him before making her way down a hall to what Zuko figured was the bathroom. She came back into the kitchen to tell them when the water was ready. "I'll be in the back garden if you need anything." She said, opening the back door before pausing to look at them.

"We'll probably go lay down for the night afterwards," Katara informed. "We'll be sure to leave first thing in the morning." Azumi waved her off and assured her that they hadn't been a bother. Katara thanked her once again before making her way to the bathroom, Zuko following close.

She stripped down to nothing and dipped her fingers into the water, it wasn't exactly warm, but it wasn't too cold either. She placed in leg in after the other and slowly submerged herself into the large tub of water up to her chin. She closed her eyes and leaned back, trying to relax.

"Ugh," She heard Zuko cry out. "It's freezing!" She smiled and opened her eyes to watch him settle down into the water, raising the temperature as he did. He paused, wondering if it was getting too hot for her. "This okay?" He asked, scooting over to her. She nodded and placed her head on his shoulder just as she done earlier that morning.

She closed her eyes once again and tried to relax. They were so close to being reunited with the other half of the group, she couldn't believe it. They were probably only a few hours behind them. But wait. Once they were clear of the village with Fire Nation troops and the forest, Aang had probably called for Appa with his bison whistle. Appa could fly much faster than Zuko and her could walk. With the direction she was told they had been heading in, she figured they were headed North, perhaps they were planning on going to the North Pole. They had continued without her, and they were probably already halfway to the shoreline by now, and Appa could fly all night, while her and Zuko had to rest. Once they were out over the sea, there would be no way they would ever be able to catch up with the others. At this realization, she sat up and opened her eyes, struck with worry.

"What's wrong?" Zuko asked, gently placing a hand on the back of her good shoulder.

"They're going to the North Pole." She breathed, still looking forwards. "Without me." She bit her lip and tried not to cry. Why would they do such a thing? For all they know, she was still on that boat. Why hadn't they continued looking for her? Sokka and Aang both knew it was her dream to go to the North Pole and try to master waterbending, how dare they betray her and leave her behind! She covered her face with her hands and began to cry into them.

"Katara," Zuko called, turning her to face him as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him. "The river still went up a ways past the village, they're probably following it a good distance." Zuko could feel her shaking her head in disagreement against his chest, and a new thought came to him. He took her cheeks into his palms and made her look at him as he spoke. "My uncle knows that I wouldn't be putting up with a bunch of grimy pirates telling me what to do for too long, and your brother and the avatar know you're a fighter. They probably think that we'd be escaping soon and know that since the original plan was to go to the North Pole, you'd head there and meet them if you were ever separated, which you were. They're trying to follow you." Katara's cries had calmed to a sniffle, and she held his wrists in her hands as she listened to him. This was good theory, and there was a great possibility that he was right, but this made a new worry come to her.

"Zuko," She sniffled. "If we do find them-"

"When, we find them." He interrupted to assure her that they would indeed find them.

"When we find them, what are we going to do?" Zuko furrowed his brow and tilted his head.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you'd say that we're together now, right?" She asked, looking into his amber eyes. He nodded and hummed, telling her he would. "How are we going to tell that to Sokka?"

Zuko smirked and brought his lips to hers, giving her a small kiss before pulling back and saying, "We won't, he'll figure it out on his own." Katara scoffed and rolled her eyes at him light-heartedly before straightening up and giving him a small kiss on the lips before she pulled back to tell him,

"You can kiss me when we're outside of a shower or tub, you know that, right?" She asked, teasing him over the fact he hadn't really kissed her outside of the showers. He smiled and pulled her close, covering her mouth with his, kissing her slowly. She hummed in delight and melted into the water, slowly breaking the kiss. She opened her eyes and examined his arms and upper torso. "Is there anything you'd like me to heal?" She asked, looking up at him.

"No, the more people feel sorry for the more chances we have of finding a decent place to stay for free."

"That's terrible, Zuko."

"What we went through was terrible, Katara." She huffed, he was right but she didn't like taking part in using people like that.

Once she had 'cleansed herself of her previous owners filth' she stepped out of the bath and noticed Azumi had laid out a fresh change of clothes for the both of them and even a pair of scissors and a band of ribbon for Katara to fix her hair. She put on her wrappings and figured she'd let the rest of her body air-dry while she took the scissors to her hair, cutting it even shorter but thinning it out and tapering it as she watched closely through a mirror on the bathroom wall above the sink. Now it didn't look so hacked off, and now that it was thinner it wouldn't make the heat as unbearable as it had before. She pulled her hair up into a high ponytail, unable to braid it properly due to the layers. It was okay, she figured as she examined her work, it didn't look too bad.

She took the robe and pulled it over her shoulder carefully, still watching herself in the mirror, she caught a glimpse of Zuko standing and getting out of the tub. She quickly averted her eyes and look away from him as a blush crept up onto her cheeks at the sight of him. She finished putting on the robe and went back to examining herself in the mirror. The robe was a little bit loose on her, even after tying the belt around her waist. The sleeves covered her hands completely and the length of the robe covered her feet and pooled around them. She would have to fix that if she didn't want to be tripping all over the place. But then she figured she'd wear the robe for the night and then change into a pair of clothes that she had personally picked out for herself while she was at the celebrating village in the morning.

Katara turned and noticed Zuko had already dressed and he had already been at the door, waiting for her to finish. She smiled and made her way to him. "Tired?" She asked, pressing past him, leading him to Azumi's daughter's room. She pressed the door opened and waited for him to enter. She watched as he placed a hand on the mattress before slowly and carefully rolling onto it, laying onto his back. She noticed his face twist in pain, his cuts must still be hurting him badly. "Are you okay?" She asked, sitting down onto the bed next to him. He nodded and shifted to get comfortable. One he laid still, she lowered herself down next to him and pulled the covers over them both, stopping at her chin.

"Wow," He began, stretching his limbs a bit, pressing himself further into the mattress. "I haven't been on an actual bed in years."

"Then you should sleep well tonight." She said, placing her cheek on his chest as she placed a hand on his stomach. That was something else he hadn't done in years. He hoped he would sleep well as he felt her begin to run her fingers up his stomach to his chest, then back down, stopping just above his navel. "Are you sure there's nothing you want me to heal?" She asked, lifting her head to look at him. She had been tracing the crooked trial of broken skin she had left on him.

"No." He said simply, closing his eyes. She huffed and placed her head back onto his chest. She wondered if he was a deep sleeper, perhaps she could heal it in the night against his will. She took her hand off his stomach and curled it under her chin. She hated those cuts she had given him. She absolutely hated them.

She sighed and tried to not worry about it and let sleep come over her.

* * *

**A/N: **I was going to write what was going on with Aang's group, but I think it's told pretty clear through Katara and Zuko. Please leave a review and tell me what you think! Azumi means "safe residence".


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:**

******BEWARE!** THIS WILL BE RATED****** "M" **FOR MATURE!

* * *

**"Katara," **Zuko growled, leaning over her as he shook her, desperately trying to wake her up from her sleep. She grumbled, waving him off as she turned, facing her back towards the fire bender. Zuko huffed and rolled his eyes at her. "Katara, you have to get up. We have to leave, now!" Katara glared at him over her shoulder just as Azumi came into the room.

"Word is that they've just arrived at the village to the South. If they find your trail, they will surely find you soon! You two must hurry!" Katara sat up as she brushed some fallen strands of hair out of her face, startled by Azumi's rushed, frantic words she couldn't quite make out due to how fast she had been speaking. Katara looked up to Zuko, silently asking him what was going on.

"The pirates." He said lowly, helping her out of the bed. Katara let out a gasp and quickly discarded the robe, leaving her in her wrappings to change into something that actually fit her. As Zuko left the room to retrieve their bag, Katara shoved the robe into Azumi's arms, thanking her for her kindness, hoping the pirates would bring her and the village no trouble or harm of any sort. Azumi nodded and wished them the best of luck for their journey, and offered them one of her ostrich-horses to aid in their escape. Katara was of course hesitant about the offer, but accept anyways, knowing they needed it desperately to make a quick and easy get away.

Zuko, already mounted on the ostrich-horse, held his hand out to help Katara up onto it. He thanked Azumi for all she's done before he turned to face forward as he commanded their new steed to start moving the Northern tree line.

About thirty minuets after setting off and entering the forest, Katara huffed and rested her forehead on Zuko's back, closing her eyes as she did so. She felt as if she hand't slept at all.

"Did we even get to sleep?" She whined.

"We slept for about a good five hours, the sun will be rising within the next couple of hours." Katara sighed and turned her head to rest her cheek on his back.

"Why did we have to leave so suddenly?" She asked. He furrowed his brow at her question. She nearly sounded as if she hadn't wanted to get off the pirates stolen cargo boat, as if she didn't want to leave that traumatizing hell hole.

"They were going to capture the avatar, sell me to Zhao, and start using you for themselves." He informed, glacing at her over his shoulder. She sighed and looked down, disgusted. They continued on in silence for a bit longer before she began to giggle behind him. Zuko leaned back and turned to face her, shocked by her sudden fit of laughter.

"You know what I just realized?" She asked, lightly placing her fingers over her lips. "You did save me from the pirates after all, Zuko." He scoffed and shook his head light-heartedly, turning to face forward again._ 'I'll save you from the pirates'_ rang through his mind as they continued moving North at a steady, fast pace.

!

"Katara," Zuko said softly as he leaned back a bit to wake her. She groaned as she slowly placed her chin onto his shoulder. "Look it." She opened her eyes and realized that they were perched on the top of a hill, looking down to a sea port village. The sun was now high in the sky, and they had finally made it to the Northern shoreline of the Earth Kingdom. It would still take a while to reach the village, they had a couple of more hills to go over before they were actually in town, but seeing the sea that separated her from The Northern Water Tribe was a big relief. Just one, big body of water to cross and she would be there, hopefully reuniting with her brother and friends.

Hopefully she would finally be back with her friends and family and hopefully she would finally be able to master waterbending. She knew there must be more healers up there, so she could learn more about that as well.

Zuko could hear her breath being caught in her throat and could feel that she had been overwhelmed with the sight of the village. He leaned a bit and turned to be able place a small kiss on her temple. "It won't be long now, hopefully we can find a decent place to rest. Perhaps someone has a ship well enough to go to The Northern Water Tribe?" She nodded and rested her head in the crook of his neck as she wrapped her arms around his torso.

After about another hour or so, slowly making their way up and down the hills that surrounded the port, they finally got onto the trail that led to the actual entrance of the village. Zuko found a good post to tie the ostrich-horse to and hopped off before helping Katara by gently lifting her off. She smiled at his kindness and took his hand, lacing their fingers together.

They weaved their way through the busy streets until they reached what they figured to be the middle square, seeing as that it had a decorative fountain in the middle with only the finest of shops, restaurants, and a nice looking Inn bordering around it. Zuko nudged her with his elbow and used his free hand to point at the sign that read 'Hitomu's Inn'. They looked at each other and nodded before making their way into the open door.

Katara stopped at the front counter, crossing her arms as she rested them on the smooth stone. Zuko stood behind her with an arm on either side of her, hands gripping the edge of the stone as he looked at the man at the counter over Katara's shoulder. The worker raised his brow as he rested his own arm on the counter, leaning towards them.

"How may I help you?" The man was well aged, but he still stood tall. His hair was white as snow and very thin, leaving multiple bald spots atop his head. He also had a terrible scar running up his right arm from his small finger to his shoulder and one on the left side of his neck.

"For the both of us, how much for one night?" Zuko asked. The man examined the couple, noticing Zuko's wounds and Katara's tired, darkened eyes, sunken in cheeks, and them both wearing dingy looking clothes. He sighed and leaned back, keeping his hand on the counter.

"You've been the war, boy?" Zuko nodded. The man squinted his eyes as he pressed his lips together, obviously thinking hard about something. "You look strong, I'll tell you what," He began, leaning over the counter, using his elbows to prob himself up. "You two do some work for me in the back- some repairs, some organizing, and you'll earn your stay through that? Hm?" He asked, eyes shifting back and forth between the two, waiting for either to answer.

"Of course, sir." Zuko exclaimed, thrilled that he was about to get off easy once again. Why couldn't the people of the world be more like Azumi and this man? Things would be much, much better.

"Names Hitomu, this is my Inn." He paused and moved to the side, pointing at a decorative wooden sign behind him that also read 'Hitomu's Inn'. He plucked a key from the key wall and placed it onto the counter in front of the young couple in front of him. "Down the hall, up the stairs, second room to your right. You'll have a nice view of the shops and port from there." He said as he motioned to his right. "I'll let you settle today, but I expect to see you first thing in the morning tomorrow." They both nodded as Zuko placed an arm around Katara's waist, holding her close as they began to make their way down the hall and up the stairs.

Zuko unlocked the door and held it open for her. She glided into the room and looked around. It was nice. Dark wood flooring, probably made from tree's of the forest near by. Nice, cream colored walls. The front room was made up of a small kitchenette to the left, straight ahead was a small dining area. To right was a wall with one door that opened a small coat closet and another door that opened up the bedroom. A comfy looking bed was placed against the far wall, a good sized window on the left wall with a built in window seat, on the right wall was a door that led to the washroom.

Katara sighed and rolled onto the bed, sinking into it. She was still so exhausted. Zuko came up and stood by the side of the bed to inform her that he was going to go and ask Hitomu if he had anymore work, even if it just resulted in a few measly copper pieces. Just as he was turning to leave, terrible worries began to rush into Katara's mind.

What if Hitomu had some of connection to the pirates? What if his kindness was a set up? A trap? What if the pirates were in the village now, roaming the streets in search of her and Zuko? What if he left her and they got him? Leaving her all alone without him? Without Zuko?

"Zuko!" She cried, sitting up. He turned and looked at her over his shoulder with obvious concern on his face. "I'll go with you." She breathed, swinging her legs over the side of the bed to stand and join him.

"Katara," He started softly, placing a hand on her good shoulder. "You should stay and rest."

"No, I'm okay. I want to go with you." She said, pressing past him. Zuko quickly swooped his hand under her upper arm, grabbing her and twisting her around to face him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and held her gently to make up for his sudden roughness.

"You need to stay here and rest." He growled. She knew this wasn't a suggestion and sighed, glaring down at the bed. She groaned and placed her forehead onto his chest. He tightened his arms around her, closing the space between them. "They're not going to get me." He assured softly, giving her a bear hug. She let a squeak when he began to squeeze too hard, causing him to slack his arms down and take a step back to look at her. She continued looking down, away from him. He gently placed his fingers under her chin to lift her gaze up to him. He smiled and suddenly bent down, placing an arm at the bend in her knees to cause her to fall backwards into his other arm. Holding her bridal style, she laughed as he gently placed her down on to the bed. Zuko placed a hand on either side of her shoulders and leaned over her. "You're such a worry-wart." He pointed out. Katara lightly placed her hand on the side of his neck, gently pulling him down to her. He stopped just about an inch or two away from her and stared at her lips. "Sleep," He ordered softly, bringing his gaze up to her eyes. "And don't worry!" He stood abruptly, rejecting her kiss.

Katara gasped and crossed her arms over her chest as she let out a 'hmph' sound, glaring at Zuko as he turned and left the room. She didn't sleep, and she worried about him terribly while he was out.

!

Zuko made his way down to the front counter. Hitomu raised his brow at him, silently asking him what he needed.

"I was wondering if you had anymore work I could do for a couple of spare pieces." Hitomu ran his hand over his mouth and chin in thought.

"No, but Master Takumi just got a new load of tree bark in. He's old and frail, I'm sure he could use your help. But tread carefully, he doesn't take too kindly to... well, anyone, if you're not buying or learning from him. He owns the store directly across the middle square." Zuko nodded and gave Hitomu a small bow before turning on his heel to leave.

Zuko crossed the square carefully, keeping an eye out for any unusual behavior. Everything seemed fine, no one seemed to be alarmed or frightened in kind of way, no one seemed to be crowded around anyone, or excited by a certain's persons appearance. There was no sign of pirates, but there was also no sign of the avatar which meant there was no sign of his uncle.

A sign on the door of the shop read 'closed for clean up' but Zuko ignored it as he sighed and slowly pressed the door open anyways. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a small bell the door was supposed to hit when someone entered, but because he hand't opened the door wide enough it hadn't rang. Zuko paused and wondered if he should he ring it to alert the old man of his presence, but before he could decide a small shout started him. He turned and noticed a small, old man at the back of the shop trying to lean down to pick up some blocks of wood he dropped.

Zuko took long strides to get to him faster. "Sorry," He said, kneeling down to pick the wood blocks up himself. "I got it." He put on the sweetest, most innocent facade he could muster up to try to get on the cranky old man's good side quickly. "Sorry, I should have rang the bell." He said as he stood to put the couple of wood block he had gathered up onto the counter to his right.

"Damn straight ye should have!" Master Takumi growled as he slowly stood, one hand trying to ease his aching back, and the other holding a couple of wood blocks he had managed to pick up. "What the hell is wrong wit' ye, boy! Cain't ye read the damn sign? Ye too stupid to?" He growled as he tossed the wood up onto the counter, turning to send eye-dagger's Zuko's way over his shoulder.

"My apologies." Takumi gasped and his eyes widened as he caught sight of the condition the boy before him was in.

"You ain't from 'round here, are ye?" He asked as he turned to face Zuko, leaning on the counter behind him.

"No, sir." Zuko answered simply.

"Well," He growled out slowly, "What the hell ye want?" He asked, leaning his head down to look at Zuko over the top rim of his glasses.

"I heard that you could perhaps need some help with a new shipment of wood that just recently came in. I'm in great need of some pieces to get by, even if they're just copper, sir." Master Takumi growled and snarled at Zuko as he looked him up and down, examining him. After a good minuet of thought, Takumi turned and motioned for Zuko to follow him.

Zuko followed Takumi though a back room of the shop that was filled with different shelves covered to the brim with carefully organized small blocks of all kinds of wood, then farther back into a different room filled with crates.

"Ye get to unload, cut, 'n sand as many wood blocks ye can today. Do a good job 'n perhaps I'll pay ye in gold." Takumi cackled, then quickly taught Zuko how to cut them and sand the wood. This was going to be long, hard work and Zuko figured that he should be paid in gold pieces to begin with!

As he began to cut his first block into slices, Takumi plopped down into a chair that was placed in the corner of the room, surrounded by wood shavings. He grabbed a block of wood and a tool he had stashed underneath the chair and began whittling away.

Zuko worked hard and tried to keep his worries about Katara and the future out of his mind. What the pirates went into the Inn and Hitomu told them where she was? What if they raped her there? Killed her? Took her away from him? What would happen if they did manage to get to the North Pole? Find the avatar? Would the avatar welcome him with open arms? What about Katara's brother, Sokka? What if they couldn't defeat the Fire Lord? What if they lost the war completely? Where would he go? Would he stay with Katara? Would she stay with him? Could he even function properly without her now? Zuko growled and forced the thoughts from his mind, focusing solely on his work.

After hours upon hours of cutting multiple blocks of wood into slices and those slices into smaller blocks, Zuko paused when he realized he had been there all afternoon and the moon had already made it up into the sky.

"Sir," Zuko paused, massaging his hands. Takumi looked up at Zuko from his project and raised his brow. "If I stay here any longer, my girl is sure to begin worrying about more than she already is." Takumi's eyes widened when he looked passed the young man in front of him, and realized just how much work he had done in one day. Zuko had literal piles of different woods stacked up against the wall.

Takumi stood slowly, still in awe. "Do ye know how long it would take me to get this much work done by meself?" He asked, pointing to the different stacks, hand shaking in his old age. "Come 'ere, ye certainly have earned yer gold pieces." Takumi waddled out of the room and back into the front of the shop, to his money drawer.

Zuko followed and informed Takumi that he hadn't sanded the small blocks of wood down just yet and that he figured he'd get the cutting out of the way first, seeing as that sanding each one individually before cutting the next would take a terribly long time.

Takumi groaned and unlocked his drawer, shoving a copper and silver colored box out the way to grab a golden one hidden in the very back, having to use a key to unlock it as well. He plucked five golden pieces from the box, that to Zuko's astonishment, was nearly chock-full with pieces. This old guy was set for future lives!

"Ye'll earn the other half later." Takumi informed as he shut and locked the box, placing it far back into the drawer and locking it as well. Zuko stuffed the pieces into his pocket, nodding as he made his way out of the shop, returning to the Inn across the middle square.

!

Zuko quietly glided through the first room and into the bedroom. Katara lay in the bed, sleeping peacefully as moonlight poured onto her face. He remained silent as he picked out a change of clothes before he slipped into the shower.

As the warm water hit him, he realized just how tired and sore he was going to be the next day. He could already feel his muscles getting tighter in his upper body. 'Great', he thought. While working for Takumi, he had forgotten all about his previously made arrangements with Hitomu. He rolled his eyes at himself and finished showering.

Zuko left the washroom and noticed Katara sitting up in the bed. "Zuko!" She called. "You scared me." She turned and looked out the uncovered window, noticing how high the moon was now in the sky. "You stayed out too late!" She cried, clinging to the bed sheets.

He laid down onto the bed and pulled her down with him, turning her onto her side so they could face each other without having to twist. "I made five gold pieces today." He mumbled as he closed his eyes. The bed was so soft and cool against his skin, so inviting.

"Oh," She furrowed her brow as she rubbed his shoulders, feeling just how tense he was. She sat up and turned him onto his stomach as she swung a leg over his back to straddle him. His back was still covered with cuts, but most have them had healed a great deal since she last had a look at them. She ran her hands over his back muscles, putting her weight down onto them as she did so, massaging him. He let out a groan in relief.

After a few more minuets of this, she snickered and leaned down to him. "Feel better?" She asked as she dug the pads of her thumbs into his shoulders.

"So much better." He admitted, dragging his words out. She continued until she was sure he was asleep, then she lay down next to him onto the left side of the bed. She pulled the covers over both of them, stopping at her chin as she had done the night before. She ran her fingers through his hair before tucking her hand under her chin, ready to fall back asleep.

* * *

Azumi let out a sigh of relief once she was sure the young couple she had helped was out of the village and into the surrounding forest, but just after she had lit a nice fire in her fireplace and sat comfortably in her favorite chair, picking up her most recent knitting project as she did so, she heard a knocking on her back door.

It was very early in the morning, the sun had only been in the sky for a couple of hours and she wondered who it could possibly be. She huffed and placed her knitting needles and thread back into the small basket next to the chair as she stood. She slowly opened her back door and saw two odd looking men standing before her.

One in a green outfit with a green headband to match, sporting a long hair cut, and a big, golden hoop earring in his right ear. The other man wore a blue outfit and kept his hair up in a bun.

"May I help you?" She asked kindly, looking towards the man in green.

"Yes," He hissed. "We're looking for two fugitives. A young waterbender girl and a young firebender boy, an ugly scar covering the left side of his face?"

"Oh, no, I'm sorry. I haven't seen them." She watched as the man in blue nudged the man in green with his arm and pointed down to the tracks in the mud of her back garden. The man in green took two blades from behind them and held them at his sides.

"You're not lying, are you, old lady?" He warned as he took a step towards her. She glanced over when she noticed a small group of men coming up to the side of her house. She immediately noticed the one in the middle, wearing a large hat with a reptile-bird perched up on his shoulder. These men were the pirates the couple had been fleeing from!

"N-no, I-" She hesitated and struggled as her eyes darted around the group. The man in green continued to press forwards, towards her. "No, I - please!" He lifted his blade and took another step towards her. "No! Please!"

* * *

**A/N: **Hitomu means "One Dream". Takumi means "Craftsman".


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:**

**WARNING!**

**THIS CHAPTER IS RATED "M"**

**Sexual situations, violence.**

* * *

**Zuko **woke from his sleep the second sunlight began to pour onto his face from the still uncovered window. Katara had turned sometime during the night, her back pressed up against his chest and his left arm held tightly around her small waist. He had also stretched his right arm out and she had of course managed to lay her head down onto it, cutting off the blood circulation. His arm was tingling and he let out a groan of discomfort as he propped himself up on his elbow and leaned over her.

Even with dark circles around her eyes, even with her sunken in cheeks, her left with a small, thin line of pink, puffed up skin taking place the cut she had earned herself earlier on the pirates boat, even with her hair a mess, Zuko was sure she was one of the most beautiful, exotic girls he had ever laid eyes on. Her tan skin was soft and smooth and her thick brown hair, though it sort of looked like a rats nest this morning, jumbled up and knotted with the ribbon she had tied it up with the day before, still managed to look absolutely perfect as it cascaded over her cheek and shoulder. He lightly ran his hand over her cheek, brushing the hair out of her angelic face. She furrowed her brow and groaned before opened her eyes to slits, squinting to try and shield her tired eyes from the sun's rays.

"What are you doing?" She mumbled, noticing Zuko had been gawking at her. She rubbed her eyes and turned over onto her back, stretching as she did so. He smiled and leaned down to nuzzle the crook in her neck.

"We have to work for Mr. Hitomu today." He informed.

She scoffed and furrowed her brow at him just as he lifted himself to look at her. "I thought you said you made five gold pieces?"

"I did,"

"Then why would we still have to work for Hitomu? Just pay him!" It was Zuko's turn to furrow his brow at her, and he did so as he sat up, crossing a leg over the other.

"He's old and probably needs the help, we told him that we'd work for him. What, you want to stay here and laze around all day?" Katara sat up and glared at him.

"No, I want you to stay here and laze around all day! You worked all day yesterday.. did you even have anything to eat, Zuko?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

Zuko huffed and rolled his eyes at her. "I wasn't hungry."

"I don't care if you were hungry or not, Zuko," Her face scrunched with annoyance as her words flew from her mouth. "You need to eat!" She hopped off the bed and took an apple from the bag they had gotten from the Fire Nation village a day ago, he turned and watched her, wondering what she was planning on doing with that apple.

"Katara, I-" She shoved the apple into his mouth before he could finish his sentence. He glared and snarled at her, taking a bite out of the apple as he lowered it from his mouth. She smiled and placed a knee on either side of his hips, sitting down into his lap as she lightly put her arms over his shoulders and around his neck.

"Eat," She whined before she placed a small kiss onto his lips. He continued to glare, but swallowed the piece of fruit anyways. Katara smiled as she took his cheeks into her palms and brought his lips down to hers, giving him a big kiss, ending it with a 'mwah' sound. "I'm going to go get ready," She groaned as she lifted herself off him, annoyed with the fact that they were still going to go work for their stay, even though they could easily pay for it with the money he had earned from the day before. "Finish eating!" She ordered, glaring at him over her shoulder as she slipped into the washroom to shower and change.

!

After Katara showered and dressed, Zuko also changed his clothes before walking with her down to the front counter, sure it was about time to meet up with Hitomu to begin their work.

At the front desk stood a young woman neither of them recognized, and Zuko asked her if Mr. Hitomu was around. She informed that he was already in the storage room, and she escorted them from the front desk to the back storage room.

As they made their way through the halls of the Inn, Zuko leaned over to Katara and told her to not call him by his actual name, if anyone were to hear that the Prince of the Fire Nation was in their village, it could possibly start trouble, and make it easier for the pirates to find out about exactly where they had managed to run off to.

"Ah, good morning," Hitomu greeted, looking at the couple over the boxes he had stacked in his arms. The young woman had lead them to a back room that was obviously built after the Inn, extending the storage area. In the far left corner of the room, the wall and ceiling had been smashed into by a tree during a storm. "I'll have you help me with the wall and ceiling repairs," He said, pointing towards Zuko. "And you can do the organizing, little lady."

Katara nodded, noticing the boxes were marked with the name of the item they held. These boxes were filled with the complementary soaps and bath items, paper pads, feather pens, inkwells, some had the sheets, pillows, and towels folded into them.

Zuko was relieved to see that he wasn't going to have to any heavy lifting, the boards of wood were pretty light and thin, making it easy for him to work with his sore muscles. They removed the tarp that covered the gap in the wall and roof to begin their work.

It didn't take too long to patch up the wall, it was just turning afternoon once they had finished it and Katara had managed to organize a good half of the boxes They all worked in silence until Hitomu finally gathered up enough courage to ask what had happened to the young mans arms and where he and the girl had traveled from.

Zuko sat on the roof, hammer in hand, frozen. Katara gently placed a box that was full with ceramic plates down onto a shelf and looked up at him through the gap in the ceiling. She watched as he slipped through the gap and stood still, staring off into space.

"I need to go sit down." He said lowly, pressing past both Hitomu and Katara, desperately trying to force the memories from his mind. Katara gabbed his hand before he could leave, but his fingers slipped from hers as he glided through the door.

"I didn't mean to upset him," Hitomu apologized, looking down to Katara. She bit her lip as she looked back up at him.

"It-it's bad," She fidgeted as her eyes darted around the room, she was having trouble pushing the memories out of her mind as well.

Hitomu nodded and began helping her sort through the boxes of goods while Zuko was out. "I was in the Earth King's Army," He began softly. "Nearly died a couple of times," He said, turning his arm and head to show Katara the battle scars on his arm and neck. "I almost had to return, but my son knew how much this Inn meant to me, and he took my place, brave young man he is." Hitomu stood upright and looked around the room as he sighed, overwhelmed by nostalgia. "This has been my one and only dream, to manage my own Inn, a place of refuge, give people a nice place to stay for a couple of nights." Katara nodded and carefully placed a couple of plates down onto their designated shelf before turning on her heel, leaving the room to find Zuko.

She found him sitting just outside beside the storage room door, knees pulled up to his chest, face buried into his arms. "Zuko," She whispered softly as she sat in front of him, wiggling her way into his arms.

"I've had terrible nightmares and flashbacks of my banishment since it happened, now I have to deal with even worse ones thanks to those stupid pirates." He mumbled into her shoulder. Katara simply ran her fingers through his hair and held him close to her, comforting him in silence.

They sat there for a while, until Katara figured that they had better get back to work. They nearly had it all completed, it wouldn't be long now until they had everything done. "We should continue working," She whispered, "Keep you busy, try to keep your mind off it." She leaned back to look at him and he nodded, slowly standing, holding out a hand to help her up.

As they entered the room, Hitomu turned and gave a light smile before stating that he had began to think that he had lost them. Katara shook her head and smiled back as she began organizing again, Hitomu had organized a small chunk while her and Zuko had been out in the hall. Zuko went back to work silently.

After finishing up on the roof and having to go around the building to get back into the Inn's storage room, Zuko stood in the door way and informed Katara and Hitomu that he had made plans to continue working for Master Takumi. Just as he turned to leave, Katara managed to grab him by his upper arm.

"Don't stay out so late again," She ordered, giving his arm a small squeeze. He turned towards her and nodded. "Promise me." She demanded as she took a step towards him, her eyes already filling with worry.

"I promise." He said softly, turning to continue his trek over to Takumi's shop across the street.

This time, Zuko was sure to let the door hit the bell when he entered the shop. Takumi made his way from the back room and motioned for Zuko to come on in. He went back to work without a word, sanding down each block of wood the best he knew how.

Zuko continued sanding until dusk, stopping not only for Katara's sake, but for his arms as well. He knew his upper body was going to be giving him some serious pain for the next few days, but he figured this was a good start to regaining the muscle he had lost on the cargo boat. Takumi smiled for the first time since Zuko had began working for him, and guided him back to the money drawer for the other half of his pay.

For the first time, Zuko actually got good look at the old man and his shop.

Takumi was just about as tall Iroh, perhaps even a little shorter. He had a completely bald head, blotched with age spots. He grew a circle beard and had it very well groomed. Him and his clothes were covered in a thin layer of saw-dust, his hands and fingers curved in an odd way, probably well worn down, covered with patches of hardened skin by years and years of sawing, sanding, and whittling.

His shop was filled with shelves that were covered in wooden oddities, knick-knacks, kitchen utensils, small furniture pieces, and even some children toys. Zuko was sure they were all hand-made, all hand-made by Takumi. When Zuko had first met him, he had absolutely no idea as to why this cranky old man would ever be called a Master in any form of art, but now he realized that Takumi was a Master Craftsman.

Zuko turned, continuing to gawk of the countless pieces of work Takumi had done. "Wow," He breathed.

"This store been in me family fer years," This was by far the softest and kindest Zuko had heard Takumi speak. "Along wit' the skill of carvin'. Wood be in my blood, even got some stone in there." Takumi said as he took a light sheet from a glass counter. Zuko walked over and gazed at the different kinds of stone. As he leaned over, a certain stone he didn't recognize caught his eye.

"Excuse me, sir, but what type of stone is this? I've traveled far and have never come across anything like it." Zuko said, pointing to the cluster of stone he was interested in.

Being raised as Fire Nation Royalty, Zuko had seen many different kinds of stone and gem, but never one quite like this one.

Takumi held it up to him and explained that it was a gem called 'blue amber'. No wonder Zuko hadn't seen in it the Fire Nation, the blue that could be seen in the gem would have been thought as of an 'impurity' to the very patriotic people of the Fire Nation. Zuko listened as Takumi went through all the different types of amber and other gems he had in his shop, explaining how to hold them to see the different colors in the best way and where in the world they were most popular. Emerald and Jade he had the most supply of. In his shop he also had a good supply Jasper, a stone Zuko easily recognized due to it's popularity in the Fire Nation along with a few others such as Obsidian, Ruby, and Armadillo-Tiger's Eye.

Takumi also showed him Larimar, a beautiful baby blue colored stone and Peridot, a light green colored stone, and expressed that these two gems were very popular to the people of the Northern Water Tribe and Ba Sing Se. He held up a necklace made of olive green Peridot and gold, telling Zuko that a very high-ranking Noblewoman had ordered this to be made and shipped to her house in the upper most ring in Ba Sing Se.

"And you can carve this, as well?" Takumi nodded and turned towards the counter to carefully returned the necklace he had in his hand back onto it's display stand. He noticed Zuko's eyes still hooked onto the blue amber, and he raised his brow as he looked at the young man over his shoulder.

"Ye interested in it?"

Zuko hesitated and pressed his lips together before answering, "Perhaps, how much would it cost to have it carved?"

"I'll tell ye what," Takumi said as he stood up as straight as his poor, aching back would allow him to while he pointed at Zuko. "Since ye did such a fine job, I'll carve it for ye, for free." Zuko's slowly roamed around the room, deep in thought.

"Thank you for the work and for your offer, I'll have to get back to you on that one, sir." Zuko said as he bowed before turning to leave.

!

Zuko came up to his and Katara's room at the Inn, realizing that he had left the key with her before he went to work for Master Takumi. He sighed, but attempted to slide the door open anyways. To his surprise, it opened. This absolutely horrified him, she wouldn't actually leave the door unlocked, would she? What if she hadn't left the door open and the pirates had came to the Inn and broke the lock? What if they had taken her! Zuko tore the door to their bedroom open as fast as he could. His fear draining from him once he caught sight of the young, female waterbender standing alone in the room with nothing but a bath towel wrapped around her small torso, a startled expression on her face.

"Oh," He said, gently sliding the door closed behind him. "Sorry."

"Goodness, Zuko," She laughed. "Drama queen much?" He scoffed at her teasing and shook his head.

"I thought the pirates had broken the door, seeing as that you hadn't locked it." He growled, scolding her as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"I left it unlocked for you," She hissed as she snarled and glared at him. "I wasn't sure if I would be sleeping by the time you got here." She growled, obviously still angry with him for coming home so late the other night.

"Well, I'm here now." He shrugged as he looking away from her.

"Mhm." She hummed.

Katara smiled mischievously as she took a couple of steps towards him, taking his arms and wrapping them around her waist. She placed her hands on his shoulders and looked up into his amber eyes, raising herself up on the balls of her feet to be able to kiss him on the lips, the towel falling from her body as she did. Zuko smiled against her lips and leaned down to deepen the kiss as he held her closer to him. She tilted her head upwards, breaking their lips apart, "Zuko," He gently bit into the skin of her neck, noticing the amount of lust in her voice, realizing just what she wanted. He removed his teeth from her skin and covered her mouth with his, kissing her slowly.

She turned them and pressed all her weight onto him, causing them both to fall onto the bed, their lips never leaving the other's as they landed onto the mattress. She straddled him and gripped his hair between her fingers as she kissed him harder. After a while of continuous kissing, Zuko let out a groan as he turned his face to the right, tearing his lips from hers. Katara panted lightly as she turned and stood to be able to relieve the firebender of his trousers and under shorts. She ran her hand up his hardened length as she swung her leg back over his hips to straddle him again, guiding his tip to her entrance. She let out a moan of pleasure as she lowered herself down onto him, rolling her hips over his after she settled.

Zuko lay relaxed for while, simply enjoying her work before he suddenly turned her onto her back, never leaving her as he did. Using his elbows to keep himself propped up above her, he leaned his head down to latch his mouth onto her neck, sucking on the skin hard enough to leave a mark. She let out a moan and managed to rake her fingers through his hair as he sat up, grabbing her bum with both hands. He lifted her hips up before slacking his arms down, repeating this at steady pace until he shuddered, reaching his climax.

Katara let out a happy sigh as he leaned down low enough for her to easily wrap her arms around him and pull him close. He caught his breath before he turned over onto his right side, facing her. She hummed as she wiggled closer to the Fire Prince, snuggling against him.

He groaned and shifted backwards a bit to be able to look at her, noticing something. "You haven't came yet," He pointed out as he gently grabbed her hip.

"That's okay," She breathed as she closed her eyes, ready to go to sleep.

He turned the waterbender over onto her right side to face her away from him as he pulled her over to him, holding her against his chest. His hand swooped down to the space between her legs, rubbing her until he was able to bring her to her own peak.

They were both able to fall asleep quickly that night.

* * *

As always, Zuko woke up before Katara. He turned onto his back to stretch, but immediately regretted these actions. His shoulders and arms were so sore and stiff. He was sure there was some kind of tea that would help remedy this, if only he had listened more carefully to his uncle while he had been going one one of his various tea fact rants.

Zuko hissed as he slowly stretched his muscles, trying desperately to relieve the paint but only bringing more in the process. He sighed and attempted to relax. It was very early in the morning, the sun was only just beginning to rise and he knew Katara will still sleep for a few more hours. What to do while she was sleeping? Or a better question, what to do after she woke? Zuko had earned them ten gold pieces and he figured that they should head down to the docks today in search of a boat in good enough condition to take the to the North Pole. Would anyone even be willing to take them all the way to the North Pole?

He sighed and turn over to his left side, noticing that neither of his arms had gotten caught under one of Katara's cheeks during night. He looked at her over his shoulder, remembering just what had happened the night before. He turned over onto his back again, ignoring his aching muscles as he gazed over her sleeping figure, suddenly wanting her again. Neither of them were dressed, and he figured that he could easily wake her up with the start of round two, but he pushed this idea from his mind. She needed her sleep and he was sure he'd be in pain during, thanks to his sore muscles.

Finally, after hours of laying there, his partner finally began to stir in her sleep, groaning and wiggling about as she tried to get into a more comfortable position. Zuko wrapped his right arm around her waist and pulled her over to him. She twisted in his arm and lay on her back, looking up at him.

"Morning," Katara yawned as she sat up, keeping the sheet over her shoulders. After realizing just how cold it was, she quickly laid back down, resting her cheek and hand on Zuko's chest.

Zuko huffed and rubbed his temple as he complained about needing a shower. "Me too," She sighed, not wanting to leave the warm bed at all, even if it were a few long strides to a hot shower. She sat back up and searched the covers the towel she had wrapped around her the night before. Zuko smirked as he swung his legs over the side of the bed, eyeing the bathroom door.

"We could shower together," At this offer, she froze and began to blush, biting her lip in attempt to not smile. She spotted her towel in the heap of fabrics and wrapped it around her as she stepped onto the floor, gliding over to the bathroom door, slowly opening it as she looked at him seductively over her shoulder.

"We could," She smiled as she slipped through the door, gently closing it behind her. Zuko stood and followed her, locking the door behind him. She hopped into the shower as he turned the water on. They both shrieked at how cold it was and moved as far back against the shower wall as they could, barely out of the shower head's range.

Zuko turned and pulled her in front of him, using her as a human shield against the freezing water. She was from the South Pole, it couldn't possibly be too cold for her. "Hey!" She protested, realizing what he had done. She took his arms and turned him to have his back against the water. He was a firebender, he could easily raise his skin temperature to warm the water against it.

He brought her close to him, holding her tight in his arms as he leaned down to kiss her fully on the lips. He ran his hands all over her body, groping her in random places as he left trails of small kisses all over her face, neck, and shoulders. As he paid a great deal of attention to her body, she returned the favor by focusing on his. Taking water and trying her best to heal the cuts and bruises on his upper torso. The wounds had nearly completed healing on their own and had already began to scar, but she tried her best to clear his back and shoulders up, massaging his sore muscles as she did so.

Zuko lifted her up onto him as he pressed her up against the tiled wall. She immediately moaned as she rolled her head back, loving the way he filled her and made her feel. Surrounded by her element and his arms, she was sure she was invincible. He snickered and tangled his fingers in her hair as he kissed her. After a while of this, he had her stand on her own feet as he turned her to face away from him, taking her from the back as he slid his hand down into her folds to make sure they came together this time.

After finishing washing and drying their bodies, they both stepped out of the shower and Katara began to towel dry her hair as she told Zuko that he should be the one to laze the day away in bed while she went out in search for better fitting, decent looking outfits for them both to replace the dingy, sorry excuse for clothes they had picked out at the Fire Nation village.

He agreed and pulled on a clean pair of pants before slipping into the sheets, relaxing down into the mattress while she put her hair up into a ponytail and dressed. He reminded her to head to the docks to see if anyone had a good looking boat. She nodded and slipped a couple coins into her pocket along with the room key and leaned over him to give him a small peck on the lips before she left, trying to not worry about him too much while she was out.

She took a good while carefully picking out clothes for the both of them, nearly two hours had passed by the time she began making her way back to the Inn. Unlocking the front door and slipping into the bedroom, she smiled as she plucked the top outfit from the pile of new clothes she had bought.

Zuko sat up as she held it out to him, smiling ear to ear. She had picked him out a nice, dark red, long sleeved shirt with gold trimmings and black trousers. He raised his brow and scanned the clothes before focusing on her eyes. He was sure these were made from very nice, expensive fabric.

"Well, do you like it?" She asked, holding the clothes out closer to him. He sighed and stood, taking the clothes in his hands and rubbing the fabric between his fingers.

"Sure, but they look and feel expensive. Why did you buy these?"

"There's a couple fancy restaurants here, so I got us both a nice outfit. I figured we could go out to dinner one night, instead of staying here all the time."

"What?" He tilted his head and furrowed his brow at her. What on earth... "Katara, how long do you think we're staying here? The pirates should be here at any time, actually, I'm surprised they're not here now. You want to go to a nice restaurant and have the chance of a bunch of disgusting pirates bust in and ruin our dinner? Did you even go to the docks like you were supposed to?" He crossed his arms over his chest, balling the clothes up in his fists.

"Well, I just-" She sighed and fidgeted. "I figured- I wanted- I even bought myself some Fire Nation colored clothes. I-..." She trailed off, bringing her gaze down to the floor. Zuko's shoulders dropped, he tossed the clothes onto the bed and took her in his arms.

"No, I get it." He assured. It seemed as though the tables had turned and he was the one worried about getting out of their situation and she was the one blocking out their situation. She just wanted to have a nice, relaxing dinner and not worry for the first time in a long, long time.

Katara sighed and pried herself from his arms and gathered up the clothes she had just bought, folding them nicely onto the window seat. She looked out the window and realized that she should probably go buy a new bag so they would have one for clothes and one for food. She hadn't spent every gold piece she had taken with her, and she had a good bit over silver and copper pieces left over in change.

"I'm going to go back out and get another bag so we can separate the clothes from the food." She sighed as she looked to him over her shoulder. He nodded as he sat back down onto the bed.

She left the Inn for the second time that day, keeping her eyes on the ground. Her face reddened with embarrassment, she felt a bit stupid and silly for buying those clothes and to make matters worse, she couldn't trade them back in and get their money back. Sure, they still had plenty of pieces left over, but the more they had the better. She looked up for the first time since she left the Hitomu's Inn as she came up to the bag shop and noticed a patch of blue in the sea of browns, greens, reds, and blacks. She shook her head. It couldn't be. It couldn't possibly be.

Her heart began to pound in her ears as she quickened her pace. A person in the crowed moved, opening up at clear space between her and this person, and she realized the young man covered in Water Tribe Blue clothes had his brown hair up in a 'warriors wolf tail', his forearms covered with white wrappings, hands covered with blue, fingerless gloves, whale bone clasped around his neck. It was. It had to be.

"Sokka!" Katara squeaked out. She knew she hadn't heard him and she called again after clearing her throat. "Sokka!" He turned and looked over his shoulder, wondering who could possibly be calling out his name. At seeing his face, she knew exactly who it was. It was him! It was her brother! "Sokka!" She screeched and lunged towards him, tackling him back into the bag kiosk he had been standing in front of.

"Katara!" Sokka pried her from him to be able to look at her, to be able to make sure it was really her. She looked so tired, her hair had been cut and her cheeks had sunken in, she had gotten rather skinny and she had an odd glow radiating from her, but it was Katara. It was her, it was in fact, his beautiful baby sister. "Katara!" Sokka tightened his arms around her and cried, shaking against her scrawny frame.

"Katara," Aang piped up, he didn't want to interrupt, but he did want a hug! She pulled away from her brother and wiped her eyes on her sleeve before turning to bring Aang into her arms, hugging him tightly.

"Aang," She sniffled as tears of pure joy and happiness rolled down her cheeks. She pulled away from the avatar, only to be tugged back into her brothers arms. "What are you guys doing here?" She asked, placing her chin on Sokka's shoulder.

"Looking for you!" Aang exclaimed. "We had gone up the shoreline a bit to the West, but came back here to let Appa fill his stomach and rest before we went to the North Pole. We weren't trying to leave you, promise, Sokka just had a dream that told him to go North and he'd find you there."

Katara wiped the tears from her face on her sleeve again and cleared her throat before telling them about how her and Zuko had been planning on heading to the North Pole within the next couple of days. Sokka furrowed his brow and pulled away from his little sister.

"Zuko?" He growled. "He's here?" He didn't care if Zuko was Iroh's nephew, he didn't like the idea of that no-good, stupid, snobby Fire Prince hanging around his sister.

"Yeah," Katara breathed. "Yeah! Yeah he is! Is Iroh still with you!" Her eyes darted back and forth between the two, waiting for either to answer.

"Yeah, he's back at the stalls with Appa and Momo." Aang answered.

"We've got to get him! We've got to bring him to Zuko!" She grabbed Aang by the wrist and tugged, telling him to guide her there. The stalls were near the docks, no wonder she hadn't seen any sign that the avatar had landed in the village. The Docks were a little ways away from the Inn she had been staying at, and so many buildings blocked the view of the stalls. She had stayed in so much she hadn't heard any rumors, and Zuko had been too busy working to hear any.

As soon as Appa laid eyes on her, he gently pounced on her, knocking her down as he licked her, letting her know that he had missed her greatly. She sat up and Momo swooped down from the saddle and perched himself up on her shoulder, chattering in her ear and licking her cheeks. Just as she had stood and dusted the dirt from her shirt, Iroh walked around to Appa's side and stood, surprised he was seeing the young waterbender girl that had been taken with his nephew.

Katara stood straight and looked at him, having trouble placing his exact emotion, she could tell so many were stacking on top of each other. "Zuko's with me," She breathed, her heart was still pounding hard in her ears and she was having trouble controlling her breathing. Iroh's breath caught in his throat and he stiffened. Was she being serious? Was he dreaming, perhaps? "I'll take you to him." She said softly, motioning for them all to follow her.

She guided them through the crowded streets, all the way to the middle block and into Hitomu's Inn.

"Hey, Hitomu." She greeted, waving at him as she passed by, he hadn't been working the desk until after she left to find a bag. He smiled and raised his hand, letting it drop down slowly, wondering why she had three men trailing after her, but he kept his questions to himself.

She unlocked and opened the door slowly, holding it open for her friends and family. She closed the front door behind her and walked over to the bedroom door, pausing before it.

"Uh," She started as she brought her finger tips to her lips, wondering how she should go about reuniting Zuko with his uncle. "Wait here," She whispered, holding a finger over her lips to tell them to keep quiet. She slipped into the bedroom, calling out Zuko's name in a sing-song voice. He was laying down onto the bed, his hands placed behind his head. He opened his eyes as he raised his brow, silently asking her 'what'. "I've got a surprise for you." She smiled, her eyes sparkling. Had she been crying? He shook his head at himself and sat up, throwing the covers off his body as he swung his legs over the side of the bed.

She walked over to the door and waited for him to stand before she slowly began to open it. "If it's another stupid outfit, Katara, I swear I'll-" Zuko froze at the site of his uncle standing before him. "Uncle!" He cried, crashing into him. "Uncle," Zuko cried as he tightened his grip around his uncle, bear-hugging him the best he could. "Uncle, I thought I'd never see you again!" He shook in his uncles arms, trying to keep his composure. "I was so scared," He whispered. "I was so scared." He admitted as he allowed the tears to fall form his eyes.

Iroh hugged his nephew tighter, placing a hand on the nape of his neck. "I thought I had lost you." He whispered as tears streamed down his face.

Katara covered her mouth with her hand as she began to cry again. Sokka immediately took her back into his arms, holding an arm out for Aang to join.

Iroh paused and stiffened, realizing his arms and hands were against more bone than muscle. He gently pushed Zuko away from him, holding out his arms to examine his body. He noticed how much muscle he had lost and how much his stomach and cheeks had sunken in. He raised his brow at Zuko, silently asking him why he had allowed himself to get so skinny.

"They didn't feed us." Zuko informed, knowing exactly what his uncle was thinking. Iroh turned and looked towards Katara, making sure his nephew was being truthful. She nodded as she pulled herself from the web of arms she was in, wiping away her tears yet again.

"You guys should get your stuff," Aang said. "We can catch up on our way to the North Pole." He smiled, finally being able to continue with the plan. They all nodded while Zuko and Katara turned to gather up their things, the few belongings they had. They decided to leave the rag-like clothes and keep the newer ones. They headed back into the market to buy two sleeping bags for each of them.

As they were beginning to head out of the main market square, Zuko remembered something. "Wait," He called, stopping in his tracks. "I nearly forgot something." He turned and guided them to Master Takumi's store. "You guys can wait out here, I'll only be a minute." He said as he slipped through the door, being sure to ring the bell.

After about five minuets, Zuko emerged from the store and nodded, letting them know he was ready to start heading towards the stalls again. But just as they were reaching the docks, Katara spotted someone she did not want to be laying eyes on.

"Oh, no." She breathed, standing still, frozen with fear. The males followed her gaze, setting their eyes on a pair of pirates roaming the docks.

"Hey!" They heard a familiar voice shout out to their left. It was Oh, the Captains right hand man. He had spotted them and pointed at them, alerting the crew.

"Well, well, well," The Captain's voice rang out from their right. "Look at who we have here." He chucked, an evil smirk spreading across his ugly, dirty face. Sokka readied his boomerang as Aang did his staff, Iroh shifted into a stance, while Katara and Zuko both stood frozen, fighting hard against their flashbacks, trying desperately to not let the sudden wave of horrible memories drive them insane.

The Captain growled as he unsheathed his sword, swinging it in the air as he ran towards the group. Aang acted first, sending a gust of wind his way with help of the end of his glider. The two pirates that had been at the docks ran towards them, taking their weapons into their hands as they ran. This shook Zuko from his daze, and he quickly singled one out, sending a fire blast towards him. Sokka handled the other one, throwing his boomerang, nailing him in the forehead, knocking him out easily. Sokka smiled, finally able to protect his sister from harm. Oh and another pirate ran towards them now, Iroh dodging an attack with ease, taking one out with a bit of c.q.c., pulling his arm around to his back. The pirate yelped in pain as Iroh pressed his hand down onto his back, pushing him down into the ground. The pirate was scrawny, and Iroh was able to hold him still without breaking a sweat.

Katara had also left her daze, seeping water from the cold, humid air, singling out Oh, freezing the water beneath his feet, causing him to fall face forward, down onto the hard, cobblestone ground.

They all ignored the crowd, trying to focus on getting these pirates out of their way so they could head back to Appa and Momo at the stalls in peace.

The Captain had managed to dodge the gust of wind Aang had sent at him, and he continued to swing his sword as he pressed forwards towards him. The young avatar did his best to avoid the sword, but the Captain quickly used it to knock Aang's staff from his hand. He paused and gasped, watching his glider be tossed up into the air, landing into the running fountain.

"Aw, man!" He whined, hoping it didn't end up getting too damaged by the fall or the water. Using the monk's distraction to his advantage, the Captain grabbed Aang by the collar of his shirt and pulled him close as he tried to bound his hands together. Aang squirmed and kicked around, but the buccaneer had far more brute strength than the twelve year old did.

Sokka ran over to Iroh, using some rope to bind up the man he had managed to hold down.

Katara smirked as she toyed with Oh, unfreezing the ground to let him gain his footing, only to freeze it again beneath him, causing him to get back up and fall back down repeatedly.

Zuko had the most trouble, the man he had singled out was one of the hardier ones of the pirates, and had simply dodged the fire blast. Grabbing the banished prince by his wrist, he tossed him down onto the ground, dodging a punch as he fell down onto the teens body, pinning him to the ground. Zuko used his fire breath, searing the pirates eyebrows off his face. He growled as he straddled the banished Fire Prince and hit him hard in the mouth, busting his lips wide open. The firebender tried with all his mite to toss the the marauder off him, but he had lost so much strength due to malnutrition, it was useless, the pirate was much stronger than he was and easily over-powered him. The man reeled his arm back as far as he could, putting all of his strength into the blow that would send Zuko into unconsciousness. Feeling the boy go limp underneath him, he continued to hit him for the hell of it.

Aang, while still trying to wiggle out of the Captains arms, managed to catch glimpses of this and called out to Katara. She looked over her shoulder and immediately understood why Aang had called for her.

"Zuko!" She shrieked, horrified by the site, tears welling up in her eyes. The pirates fist was covered in Zuko's blood, both their shirts splattered with it. Had he just killed Zuko? Had he just taken him away from her? Would she even be able to function properly without him? Zuko was the person she needed the most right now, and she wasn't about to let his killer go free.

Her breath caught in her throat and she tensed up as she began to see red. In a blind rage, Katara took a wave of water from the fountain and plucked the pirate off Zuko, freezing him into the wave. She turned to face him, standing in a strong stance as she began to slowly turn her hands towards the other, hardening and expanding the ice as she did so.

The Captain dropped Aang, shocked by the girls power. Sokka and Iroh both stood up from their handled pirate, staring in awe at Katara's waterbending abilities. Aang stood, eyes and mouth wide open, terrified.

The pirate began to pant as the ice began crushing his ribs and lungs. With each breath he took, the more the ice constricted him. His eyes widened and his mouth hung open, at any moment now, his ribs would begin to break under pressure. Time seemed to stand still, and Aang realized what was happening. "She's suffocating him," He whispered. Sokka had seen his lips move, but hadn't caught what he said.

"What?" He asked, turning to face Aang.

"She's crushing his lungs, she's killing him!" He cried, rushing over to her. "Katara!" He stood in front her, taking her shoulders into his hands and shaking her. "Katara! Stop it!" He begged. "Katara! You have to stop! You're going to kill him!" She stood still, eyes set on the man in the frozen wave. "Katara!" Aang began to panic, having no idea how to calm her down, out of her murderous rage. He fidgeted and his eyes darted around, from the terrified faces of the people in the crowd, Sokka, Iroh, the Captains, shocked expressions, to the man turning blue in the block of ice, back to Katara's set in stone figure. Aang slammed his eyes shut, suddenly hearding Gyatso's voice, telling him that all life was important, that all life had value and must be respected as visions of the broken walls of the Air Temple, the empty rooms, the Fire Nation soldiers armor, and Gyatso's skeleton flashed through his mind. "Katara! Stop!" He demanded as his eyes and tattoos began to glow.

Katara fell back, breaking her hold on the ice, suddenly terrified, realizing she had caused Aang to fall into the Avatar State. What would he do to her? His face was twisted in anger towards her, but he raised his hand up, and brought it down, twisting it as he did. The ice melted down into a puddle of water, and the pirate began gasping desperately for air.

Aang rounded up the pirates using earth bending, and hurtled them all into a boat. He didn't know who's it was, if it had any fuel or any other essentials on it, but he didn't care. He used his waterbending to call up a giant wave, sending the pirates far out into the ocean, miles and miles away to the West.

Katara furrowed her brow and looked to Zuko, who lay limp on the ground, blood now pooling on the ground around his right ear. She pushed herself up and bolted towards him, ignoring Aang. The Avatar turned slowly, carefully watching her actions.

She sobbed as she seeped water from the air, covering her hands in gloves made of water, lowering them down to the unconscious fire bender's head. "Zuko," She cried, shaking as she desperately tried to heal him. She pulled her hands away from the sides of his face and slammed her face into her fists. "I don't know anything about the inside of the body!" She cried, hopeless. "Zuko, please!" She begged, bringing his hand to her lips, lacing their fingers together as trails of tears covered her cheeks. Aang could relate to this feeling, being so hopeless when found Gyatso's skeleton at the Southern Air Temple. This pain had also sent him into a blind rage. Understanding, he began to calm down, and slowly but surely fell out of the Avatar State.

Iroh had also ran over to Zuko, leaving Sokka to be the only one to catch Aang before he fell face first into the ground. Sokka caught him by the back of the shirt and held him up, watching as his little sister literally begged Zuko, the Prince of the Fire Nation, once their greatest enemy, to stay with her.

Katara frantically checked Zuko's mouth for damage, after realizing the blood was only coming from his busted lips and a gash on the inside of his cheek, she calmed down tremendously and gathered more water from the air, using it to heal his mouth. Iroh had leaned down to check his nephews heart, relieved to hear a strong and steady beat.

"That pirate knocked him out cold, he'll be out for a while, but he should be fine." Iroh informed softly, trying to keep his composure to help calm the young waterbender down. The retired general slowly and carefully scooped his nephew up into his arms as he turned and began heading back towards the stalls. Katara huffed repeatedly, and covered her face with her hands, sobbing into her palms.

"Katara," Sokka called softly, carefully making his way over to her. He gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "Come on, the sooner we get going, the sooner we get to the North Pole. I'm sure they have healers there." Katara glared at her brother over her finger tips as her face twisted in anger. She could heal! But, not well enough. Her shoulders and face fell. She couldn't do it, she wasn't good enough. She didn't know anything about the inside of the body. Heck, she could barely heal wounds that were outside of the body. "Come on," Sokka mimicked Iroh, and scooped Katara up into his arms, making his way back to Appa and Momo.

Aang lingered behind. He liked Katara. More than a friend. He knew he did, but he hadn't said anything. He felt it was too soon, he even second guessed his feelings towards his waterbending teacher, thinking that it was just a crush. She had been the first girl he had seen in a hundred years! Even if it didn't feel like a hundred years, it was still a hundred years! And she was so beautiful, kind, and smart. Aang retrieved his staff from the fountain and hung his head down, thinking of the days events as he slowly pressed his way through the crowd, making his way back to his friends and pets.

Iroh laid Zuko gently down into the sky bison's saddle, bundling up a bunch of clothes to help support his head. Sokka, even though he didn't want to, or approve, laid his little sister next to the Fire Prince, knowing it was what she wanted. He bit his lip, obviously having a hard time seeing her this upset. He spotted one of their bags and decided to rummage through it in attempt to help clear his mind. This was the food bag and he found a sack of jerky. Of course, he bit into it, not caring who's it was or where it had come from.

Aang used his air bending to gently lift himself up onto Appa's head, taking hold of the reins as soon as he landed. He commanded Appa to lift, but remained in silence for hours into the night.

Iroh and Sokka had fallen asleep by the time Katara had began to stir. Aang looked to her over his shoulder, a somber expression on his tired face. "Katara," He called softly, hoping she was actually awake. She furrowed her brow and he called again. She opened her eyes and lifted her cheek from Zuko's chest.

"Aang?" She mumbled.

"Could you come here?" He asked, motioning for he to sit next to him. She looked around, realizing she was up in the air, on Appa, reunited with her brother and friends. She looked to Zuko and frowned, she was absolutely filled with a mixture of worry and fear. She sighed, but left his side anyways to join Aang.

At first, she sat facing forward, but she quickly turned around to face the saddle to keep an eye on Zuko, just in case the pirates had some kind of flying machine that would allow them to pluck Zuko up and out of the sky bison saddle, taking him away from her. She tried to push the paranoia from her mind and began braiding strands of Appa's fur to distract herself.

Aang, looked down, staring at the water passing below them. He needed to ask, he needed to know. "Katara," He started softly, still staring into the water. "Would you have killed that man?"

Katara glanced over towards Aang before returning her focus to her braids. She pressed her lips together and slammed her eyes shut. She couldn't even bare to think about having one of those horrible, disgusting, perverted, filthy pirates take Zuko away from her. She didn't exactly know what she would have done, she had been seeing red, blinded by rage. Honestly, she didn't know what she would have done, but she didn't want to straight up tell Aang that, knowing it was against everything anyone had ever taught him. "Would you think differently of me if I had?" She asked, slowly turning to face him.

Aang bit his lip and stared into the water. She didn't say 'no'. Would she have done it? Would she gone through with it? He hoped she wouldn't have, he hoped the goodness inside her would have stopped her. He felt as though she was too kind and caring towards people, towards everything to ever take away anything's life.

He huffed as he turned to look at her. "You love him, don't you?" He asked, hoping she hadn't heard the quiver in his voice. She stared, not knowing how to answer... not knowing the answer. She didn't know if she actually loved Zuko or not, everything had happened so fast.

She sighed and turned away from Aang, raking her fingers through the braids she had made. She paused, sitting still, letting out a sigh as she squeezed her eyes shut. "I need him." She whispered, burying her face into the bison's fur.

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**A/N: **PLEASE leave a review and tell me what you think! LONG chapter. Express what you're feeling! What you think, good or bad!


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: ********BEWARE!** THIS WILL BE RATED **********"M"** FOR MATURE!

*****Character death is in this chapter.

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**Zuko** woke with the cool sea breeze rolling over him. The light mist in the air left his hair and clothes slightly damp, and the smell of salt water filled his nose. He figured that he couldn't possibly be on the deck of a boat, but the sound of a wave crashing against something startling him, and the only thought he could render was that he was in fact on a boat, a pirates boat to be exact, held prisoner once again. He sat up abruptly and saw nothing but the open ocean in front of him, a sharp pain striking in his side.

"Katara!" He called, looking around frantically, ignoring the ache, worrying about her far more than himself. Katara was on his left and she immediately took his hands in hers, lacing their fingers together. Zuko froze, continuing to look forwards as he tried to figure out exactly where it was and how he had gotten there.

"Zuko," Katara called softly, leaning out in front of him. She watched as his wide-eyes slowly but surely focused on her, realizing that he wasn't on anyone's ship and he was on the Avatar's sky bison, flying over an ocean.

His voice caught in his throat and he leaned back, "I thought - I thought we were - I -" Placing his arms over his face, Zuko fought the demons in his head the best he could.

"No, Zuko," She murmured as she slipped a hand over his arms, tugging a bit. "No more pirates." She managed pull his arms away from his face and ran her fingers through his hair, noticing just how dull and his foggy his eyes were. He must be so exhausted. "How are you feeling?"

"My side is killing me." He croaked out, realizing just how bard it hurt to speak. Katara raised her brow and peeled his shirt up his torso and yelped at the sight of a terrible bruise blotching his side. "What?" Zuko asked, attempting to sit up to be able to see for himself.

"Nope!" Katara placed a hand on his shoulder and pressed him back down. "Stay down." The waterbender seeped water from the humid air and brought her attention to his side, healing it the best she knew how, knowing there was more damage on the inside.

"Wait a second," He brother's voice pipped up. "You... you can heal!" Sokka strangled the air in frustration. "How long have you been able to do that!" He asked, pointing towards Zuko's side.

"Calm down, Sokka. I didn't know I was able to heal until Zuko and I were in th-...until I tried it on Zuko one time on the cargo boat."

"Do you know how much pain you could have gotten me out of? Like, when I fell into the fire pit, or when that mink snake bit me, or when-"

"You had two fish hooks in your thumb?" Zuko added.

Sokka gasped and cringed. "You told him about that?" He asked, motioning over to the young fire bender. Katara ignored her brother and remained focused on the firebender.

"I feel terrible, what happened? When did I get on this thing?" Zuko asked, sitting up as far as Katara would allow him as he rubbed his temple.

"We've been flying for about half a day now, that pirate knocked you out cold, you were out for quite some time, nephew." Iroh informed as he smiled a small smile, happy to see his nephew was finally waking up and moving about, even it was just barely.

Iroh had been so relieved to see that his nephew and the young waterbender had not only survived the pirates boat together, but managed to escape together, and it appeared as though that had taken quite the liking to each other. They both seemed to care a great deal about the other, with the way Katara was literally sobbing in fear that Zuko had been killed, and the way she had been the first thing on his mind when he woke up. Iroh knew they must have gone through hell on the cargo boat and it was obvious that they now needed the other in or order to function properly.

This worried the retired General. Wasn't Zuko still in a relationship with that nobleman's daughter? Iroh looked to the side, wondering what that girl's name was. Memories of messenger hawk's flying to and from their old ship came to him, that must have been who his nephew had been writing, but in the last year they faded down to nothing. Perhaps they had broken it off? Or had Zuko just left that girl without her knowing? Iroh shrugged to himself, he had never taken a liking to that girl for his nephew, and figured Zuko was far better off with this waterbender.

In fact, Iroh was sure that Zuko would be better off and happier with Katara, with the way she made sure he was comfortable and took attention to his wounds, never leaving his side. Iroh could tell that Katara, though troubled by the recent traumatizing situations, was a lot more cheerful and energetic than the darker girl from the Fire Nation. Katara had spunk but was also very patient and loving. The exact mix that Iroh was sure Zuko needed to remedy his troubles and balance him out.

He and the others watched as she lulled the young Fire Prince, urging him to rest and sleep, that he needed it.

Sokka furrowed his brow and snarled. What on earth did Katara think she was doing? That was Zuko, the Prince of the Fire Nation, the one who chased them for weeks, causing them all kinds of trouble. His only goal had been to capture Aang and take him to the Fire Lord so the little hope that had came into the world could be snuffed out. Even if he did aid in his sister's escape and their reunion, Sokka still didn't like him and Zuko was still on his shit-list.

Aang sighed and drew invisible circles into Appa's saddle as he tried to push all of his deep feelings for Katara away. He huffed and squeezed his eyes shut, hearing the monks tell him that he was the avatar, and that he should be caring about the balance of the world, not weather some silly girl was interested in him or not.

!

Another day passed by slowly and Sokka had just began to complain about how long it was taking to get to the North Pole when water benders emerged from behind the tops of ice bergs on small boats.

Aang and Katara both smiled ear to ear and looked at each other with joy. They made it! They had finally reached their destination and they would finally begin their waterbending training, Zuko would finally be healed properly, and so would Katara's damaged shoulder.

!

Chief Arnook raised his brow and turned his head slightly towards Aang. "You brought two firebenders into my territory, and not just any firebenders, two possible heirs to the Fire Lord's throne?"

"Uh," Aang fidgeted and looked away as he shrunk down. Perhaps he should have taken Iroh's advice and came up with a fake story for him and his nephew. Aang huffed and figured, why lie? What they were doing was noble, and would help him bring peace back to the world. "They're my firebending teachers," He began, regaining his posture. "But, Iroh won't teach me actual fire bending until I learn water and earth first." He pouted, looking over his shoulder to the seasoned fire bender.

"I see," Arnook drug his words out, still thinking about how he should handle what the Avatar had smacked down onto his plate. The water chief knew his people wouldn't be too pleased to hear that two heirs to the Fire Nation throne were walking freely inside their icy walls. "I have no reason not to believe you, but keep in mind, if they cause any trouble, or begin to pose any threat to me or my people, I will not hesitate to have them snuffed out." He warned, leaning down, towards the Avatar.

"Of course," Aang bowed. "But there's no need to worry. I've only been traveling with Iroh for about a week now, but he's proven to me that he is a man of his word and is trustworthy. I'm sure he and his nephew won't be causing you any kind of trouble. My friend and I are here to learn waterbending from a master, they're just along for the ride until I'm ready to begin training in firebending."

"I'm sure master Pakku would be honored to teach you and your friend, but tonight, I'll be holding a feast in your honor, and for my daughters sixteenth birthday." Arnook smiled and leaned back.

"Sounds great!" Aang smiled and lifted himself with his airbending, spinning in the air as he did so. "Tell your daughter I said 'happy birthday!'" He waved the chief a goodbye and ran over to Iroh and Sokka, telling them that he and Zuko were welcome as long as they didn't cause any trouble, that there was master that would teach him and Katara waterbending tomorrow morning, and that a feast would be held tonight for them.

Sokka smiled as his mouth began to water. "Mmm, it's been too long since I had a nice, big plate of water tribe food."

"I'm going to go check up on Zuko and Katara," Iroh informed as he turned and began making his way to the healing hut.

!

Katara turned and looked over her shoulder at the sound of footsteps sloshing behind her. Every time Iroh or Zuko took a step, the snow would melt beneath their feet. Iroh stood in the arch way of the healing hut, silently asking the young water bender if everything was okay.

"Yugoda is teaching me all about the inside of the body. I get to use Zuko as a practice dummy." She informed, bringing her attention back to the firebenders body.

"Where his ribs okay?" Iroh asked, walking over to Katara's side.

"Only a very small fracture in one of them. The pirates knee must of got him when he fell on top of him."

Iroh nodded and asked his nephew how he was feeling. "Cold," He answered softly. "I can't heat up too much or I'll melt the ice more than I already am." Iroh snickered and wished Katara luck on learning healing and informed them both about the feast that was going to be held later on that night. Katara nodded and promised they'd both try to attend.

Iroh turned and noticed the older women sitting in front of Katara, instructing the young waterbender on how to guide the water through the body properly. "Why hello, there." Iroh greeted, smiling as he waved. Yugoda looked up from Katara's work and smiled back, returning his greeting. "Would it be alright if I asked you to accompany me to the Chiefs feast tonight?"

"Uncle," Zuko scolded lowly through clinched teeth.

"What?" Iroh whined, turning towards his nephew as he shrugged. "You've got yourself a pretty little waterbending girlfriend now why can't I?" Yugoda laughed and blushed and she smiled.

"It's quite alright, and I'm sure you and I would have a lovely time."

"I'm sure we will." Iroh smiled and waved again before turning to leave.

Yugoda took her attention back to Katara's work and smiled as she stood. "You're a very good student and a very fast learner. I'd love to continue teaching you healing techniques."

"Thank you," Katara stood and bowed. I'd love to continue learning from you." She turned and held a hand out to help Zuko up.

"Of course," Yugoda paused and noticed the Katara's necklace. "That's a beautiful engagement necklace, so this the lucky boy?" She asked sweetly, smiling towards the firebender at her student's side.

"What?" Katara gasped, placing her fingers over the stone on her necklace. "Oh, no, no." She laughed nervously as her cheeks began to turn to a pinkish color. "This was my grandmother's necklace and she gave to my mother, who gave it me." Yugoda hummed and leaned towards Katara to be able to get a closer look at the necklace.

"I recognize this carving," She breathed out, "I don't know why I didn't realize sooner, you're the spitting image of Kanna!" Katara gasped and took a step back, asking how this woman could possible know her gran-gran's name. Yugoda explained to Katara about how she had been friends with her grandmother, that she had been born in the Northern Water Tribe, that she had been in an arranged marriage, and that the young waterbender she was to marry had carved that necklace for her, but she then suddenly left without a reason, or a goodbye.

"Oh," Katara turned slowly and began making her way back to their igloo, Zuko trailing not far behind.

"Your grandmother never told you all of that?" He asked, quickening his pace to walk beside her.

"No, I would have never of known. I wonder why she didn't tell me, and why she left."

The couple made their way to their igloo and enjoyed a nice tea time with Iroh until Aang and Sokka came to collect them for the feast Chief Arnook was holding. Sokka literally began to drool at the thought of tasting the food he had been raised on for the first time in a long while. Iroh and Aang were ready to give it a try, both eager to try new things, Iroh more eager to see the healer, though. Katara worried about just how much food Zuko would actually eat, while he worried about just how much food she was going to make him eat.

At the feast, Sokka carefully chose his seat, next to Princess Yue.

"... I'm thinkin' maybe we could ... do an activity together?" He asked, giving her a big, cheesy smile.

"Do an activity?" The Princess asked, holding back a snicker, as to not be rude to her guest.

"Very smooth, Sokka." Zuko smirked before taking a small bite of fish meat. Sokka groaned and rolled his eyes.

"Like you could do any better," He challenged through the side of his mouth, leaning over a bit to hide the conversation from Yue.

"Actually, I bet I could." Sokka leaned away from the Fire Prince and raised his brow, waiting to see just what he would do. Zuko smiled and turned to his right to face towards Katara. "Hey, Katara, on our way in here, I saw a nice cliff that would give us a great view of the ocean, perhaps later on you could I could go up there and watch the water together."

Katara blushed and looked up to him. "That sounds like a great idea, Zuko." She smiled sweetly before picking up a piece of seaweed bread. "Eat this," She ordered, holding it out to him. He plucked the bread from her hand and took a nice bite out of it, knowing it would please her to see him eat so willingly.

He then turned the Southern Water Tribe warrior and smirked, still chewing on the bread, knowing he had outdone him in the art of getting a girls positive attention. Sokka huffed and stuffed his face with food and tried to think of a better way to get Princess Yue's attention.

After the feast, the group headed back to their igloo. Zuko and Katara wiggled into a large sleeping bag that had plenty of room for them both. Sokka paused and raised his brow, watching carefully as the firebender wrapped his arm around the waterbender's waist, pulling her close to him and nuzzling her cheek with his.

"What are you doing?" Sokka growled, furrowing his brow as Zuko rested his cheek onto Katara's neck.

Katara looked up at her brother as she tucked a hand under a chin and laced her and Zuko's fingers together with the other. "About to go to sleep, what are you doing?"

"Like that?" Aang could literally feel the tension and awkwardness, pressing his lips together before plopping down onto his own sleeping bag, watching in silence along side Iroh as Sokka tried to register just what was going on between his little sister and the Fire Prince.

"Yeah? How else are you supposed to go to sleep? You don't sleep standing up, Sokka." She scrunched her nose at him, voice filled with irritation and annoyance.

"No, I mean-" Sokka's hand lingered in the air as he paused, eye twitching at the sight of Zuko placing his head behind Katara's, covering his face with her hair as he snickered. "Is something funny?" He asked, placing his fists onto his hips, glaring down at the boy snuggling with his sister.

Katara huffed and waved Sokka off as she turned onto her left side, pressing Zuko down onto his back as she rested her head and hand on his chest. "Just go to sleep, Sokka!" She ordered, smiling as Zuko wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

Sokka growled in frustration, strangling the air as he tried to put together an actual sentence with actual words. Failing, he huffed and muttered as he kicked into his sleeping bag, snatching up and pillow and pulling it under his cheek, still muttering to himself as he tried to fall asleep.

Aang, though his heart still hurt from losing all chances he had with Katara, covered his mouth with his hand in attempt to hide his giggle from Sokka. The warriors eyes snapped open and the Avatar immediately pointed to Iroh. Iroh raised his brow and shook his head as he pointed back at Aang. Sokka let out a growl and turned over, facing his back towards everyone else.

The firebending teacher and student settled down into their own sleeping bags and allowed sleep to come over them.

!

Katara woke and ran her hand over the empty space beside her. Wait, what? Empty? Her blue eyes snapped open and she realized that the space beside her was not only empty, but cold. Meaning that the one who had been sleeping there had been gone long enough for the cold to seep into his spot. Even though she was in the Northern Water Tribe, one of the most untouchable places to the Fire Nation, far out of reach of any pirates, panicked when she realized Zuko was gone. She sat and looked around, only to see Sokka as the only one still curled up into his sleeping bag. What the pirates had managed to get in here and took Zuko? And Iroh and Aang went to go help, but they got them, too?

"Sokka!" Katara leaped from her sleeping bag, over to his. She shook him and called his name again. He groaned and waved her off, turning down onto his stomach. "Sokka, get up! Where's Zuko!" His words were muffled by the fabrics, but she figured he had said something along the lines of 'I don't know'. She huffed, continuing to panic as she shook her brother harder. "Aang and Iroh are gone, too! Where are they? Where is Zuko!"

Sokka turned to face her, barely opening his eyes. He sat up and pulled his hair back, grumbling as he patted the area around him search for his hair-tie. He found and looked back up, huffing at the sight of Zuko standing in the doorway. "He's right there, Katara. Goodness." He rolled his eyes at her, annoyed.

Katara turned and jumped up, wrapping her arms around Zuko. "Don't leave me like that, Zuko!" She scolded, tightening her grip on him.

"I'm sorry, I should have told you. I didn't want to wake you, though."

"Oh my gosh," Sokka grumbled at them as he began to search for his hoodie. Katara pulled away from Zuko and began to turn around to face her brother, but noticed Aang and the expression on his face, obviously trying to contain his excitement for something. She tilted her head at him, silently asking him what is was.

"Master Pakku says he's ready to see us. He wants to begin training right away!" He exclaimed, leaning towards the door.

"Okay," She said, turning to make her way out of the igloo. "Come on, Zuko, maybe he'll let you watch." She took his hand into hers and pulled, wanting him to go with her.

"Do you need him with you at all times?" Sokka asked, pulling his hoodie over his head and turning, looking around for his socks and boots. The three stopped in their tracks, turning around to face back to Sokka.

Iroh had managed to slip back into the igloo along side Aang, and raised his brow at the warrior as he sat down onto his sleeping bag, carefully to not spill any tea from the small cup he had in his hand. "They went through a terrible time together, they're dependent on each other. Nothing is wrong, it's natural." He assured, taking a small sip of tea.

"What?" Sokka scoffed, pulling a sock over his foot. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Shut up, Sokka!" Katara spat out, taking a step towards the open door way. "You don't know what we went through!"

"What could you have gone through? You were on there for hardly a week!" Katara tensed and clinched her fists, small cracks in the ice around her forming. Zuko grabbed her forearm and held her as she attempted to take another step towards her ignorant brother.

"Are you kidding me!" She screeched, throwing her free arm into the air.

"So Zuko got beat a couple of times, so they didn't feed you. Zuko is healed and you're fed now, it couldn't have been too bad." Katara's jaw dropped and she snatched her arm from Zuko's grasp, taking a deadly step towards Sokka.

"Don't!" Zuko called, grabbing her arm again.

"You know what's bad, Sokka?" She growled, glaring at him. "What's bad is having to force ra-"

"Katara!" Zuko took a big step towards her, smacking his hand over her mouth as he wrapped the other over her collarbone, pulling her close to him to hold her back and keep her mouth shut. She let out a small scream into his mouth as she slammed her eyes shut and began to cry, fighting the flashbacks and demons that plagued her mind. She leaned over and put her weight down, pulling Zuko down with her. She curled her fingers, melting the snow. Zuko gently smacked the water from her hands and loosened his grip on her. "Come here." He picked her up as he stood, slowly taking his hand from her mouth to wipe her cheeks with the back of his glove.

She huffed and regained her footing. She didn't even take glance at Sokka as she turned away from him. Aang bit his lip and looked down, waiting for the couple to get far enough to where they wouldn't hear him. Once they were, he immediately began scolding Sokka.

"Why would you say that, Sokka! What did I tell you about making assumptions about someone's past? Remember what we learned about Iroh!" He asked, motioning towards the retired General as he calmly sipped his tea. Sokka huffed and pulled a boot on. "You owe them both an apology!"

!

"I hate being like this, Zuko." Katara cried as he wrapped an arm around her. He had taken her all the way to the cliff he had spoken about the night before. "I feel like I'm going crazy. I feel like no one understands. I feel so alone." Zuko pulled her into his lap and took her cheeks into his palms, holding her gently.

"Katara, I feel the same way, you're not alone in this, I'm here, too." He assured softly, leaning down to kiss her. The snuggled to keep warm, and waited for her to calm down some before they went to find Aang so they could begin their training, a great opportunity for her to take out some frustration and anger.

!

"Here we are!" He exclaimed, stopping a few feet away from his new teacher. Master Pakku crossed his arms over his chest and raised his brow, examining Zuko.

"I thought he was a firebender?" He asked, motioning towards him. Aang looked towards Zuko, then back at Pakku.

"Oh, no." Aang laughed. "She's the one I'm going to be learning waterbending with." He said, pointing towards Katara. Pakku sighed and bent up a block of ice as a seat for himself.

"Looks like there was a misunderstanding. See, you didn't tell me that your friend was girl. You won't be learning waterbending with her."

"What?" Katara stomped, clinching her fist together.

"Don't take your anger out on him." Zuko mumbled to her as he placed his hands behind his back, rocking back on his heels.

She glanced at him before glaring back over to the old man. "What do you mean I won't be learning waterbending with Aang?"

"Here in the Northern Water Tribe, it is forbidden for females to learn waterbending."

"What? There are female waterbenders here!"

"The women use their waterbending for healing only. I'm sure Yugoda would be more than happy to have you as her student, despite your bad attitude." He hissed, but remained calm and collected.

"I've already learned healing from her! I need to learn waterbending to help Aang fight! I didn't travel across the world so you could tell me 'no'!"

"No," He boldly stated. "Our tribe has customs, rules."

Katara strangled the air in frustration and growled. "I need to know waterbending to help Aang save the world! Are you seriously about to put one tribe in front of the whole world?" She asked, throwing her arms up into the air. "Zuko and Iroh left the Fire Nation to help! They're directly related to the Fire Lord himself!" She informed, hoping it would help sway him into teaching her. Pakku raised his brow and leaned, looking at Zuko over Katara's shoulder.

"I'm sorry I'm not a traitor to my people." He said calmly and sarcastically, leaning back over to face in front of her. Aang saw Zuko tense and hoped he wouldn't lash out, but before he could, Katara did it for him.

"How dare you!" She yelled, pointing at Master Pakku. "How dare you speak to him like that! One word from him and a whole armada of ships could be here to arrest you just for looking at him the wrong way!"

"Katara!" Zuko scolded from behind her, running his fingers through his hair in frustration as he turned towards Aang. "She's going to get us in so much trouble!"

"He's the crown Prince of the Fire Nation! While you, you are just some sour, old man who needs to get his priorities in order!"

"Was that a threat?" Pakku asked, standing up.

"No!" Zuko called, running up and pushing Katara out of the way. "No! No, sir, I would never! And, I don't exactly belong to the Fire Nation anymore, I couldn't send anyone if I wanted to! I apologize on her behalf, she's just running her mouth. Please, forgive her, and take the Avatar as your student."

"I never said I wouldn't take him as my student, I was still going to, until of course, this little one over here ruined it for him." Pakku stated, motioning over towards Katara. Before anyone could reply, he turned on his heel and walked away, deeming the conversation as over.

"Where are you going!" Aang called.

"I'm going to go handle a few things I've been putting off for a while," He said, looking at him over his shoulder. "I'm... what was she said I needed to do? Oh that's right, I'm getting my priorities in order." He hissed, brushing a few snowflakes off his hoodie as he turned and continued walking away from them.

Aang and Zuko both sighed as they looked over to Katara at the same time.

"I can't believe you did that." Zuko informed. Katara scrunched her face up and smacked him on the arm.

"I can't believe you said that!" She yelled as she pointed at him. "Running my mouth!" She turned and began to stomp away from him. He grabbed her by the forearm and called out her name.

"You were running your mouth! Do you know how much trouble you could have gotten uncle and I in? You can't threaten him like that, even if it is empty! You need to learn you place!" Katara gasped and turned around to face him.

"My place!" She growled, leaning towards him.

"Yes, Katara, your place! You can't just speak to him like that!" Zuko yelled, holding his arm out in the direction Pakku walked away in. "He's the master waterbender, we're in his nation, he as more authority here than you do! It doesn't matter if you're the Avatar's friend or not. He disappeared for a hundred years and allowed Sozin to begin the war!" He continued, motioning both hands towards the young Avatar standing beside him. "He's one of the reasons the world is the way it is right now!" He paused for a split second and turned his hands in towards himself. "You can't use uncle or me because we're directly related to the other reason!" He yelled, holding hand out in the direction he was sure the Fire Nation was in and dropping the other to his side.

"Don't yell at me!" She threw her fists down and stood on her toes before sinking down into her hoodie and biting her lip. Zuko huffed and covered his face with his hands in frustration.

"You guys," Aang called softly. Zuko huffed again and rubbed the back of his neck as he turned towards the young Avatar. "We could go speak to Chief Arnook, maybe he'll make Master Pakku teach me. He should have a better understanding of what it'll mean to the world."

"Pakku understands, he just doesn't care." Katara hissed under her breath.

"It's worth a try, Katara." Zuko agreed, gently placing a hand on her shoulder.

They made their way to the throne room and immediately saw the Princess, the Chief, and Pakku all sitting next to each other, a row of what were sure to be nobles sitting behind them. Zuko shrunk down and hoped Pakku hadn't told Arnook about Katara's threat with the armada.

Katara stood tall and informed Chief Arnook about what had happened, skipping over a few things, of course, but telling him that Aang needed to learn waterbending for the sake of the world.

"What do you want me to do? Force Master Pakku to take Aang back as his student?"

"Yes! ... Please."

"I suspect he might change his mind, if you swallow your pride and apologize to him." Katara huffed and looked at Aang over her shoulder. Zuko crossed his arms and shifted his weight onto one leg as he raised his brow, waiting for her to do what she knew was the right thing.

She took in a deep breath and turned to face back towards the Chief. "Fine," She bit her lip and tried to think of just the way to do it.

"I'm waiting, little girl." Pakku sneered. Zuko groaned and face palmed, knowing that he had just set the whole thing off again and that Katara would lash out at him again.

"No!" He heard Katara shout out. "There's no way I'm apologizing to a sour old man like you!" Zuko slowly ran his hand down his face and watched in disbelief as Katara continued to run her mouth and end up challenging the old, seasoned, master waterbender.

"Oh my Agni, Katara, are you kidding me!" Zuko asked, throwing his arms up into the air as he followed her out of the throne room.

"No!" She exclaimed, ripping off her hoodie and shoving it into his arms as she stormed down the stairs.

"Hey, what's going on?" Sokka asked, he had been making his way up the stairs, in search of Princess Yue when he spotted them.

"Katara just challenged Master Pakku to a water duel!" Zuko whined, holding his hand out to the area in front of the palace stairs.

"Katara, you don't have to do this for me, I'll find a new teacher. He can't be the only master here!" Aang said, trying to calm her down and assure her that he didn't need to specifically learn from Pakku.

"I'm not doing it for you!" She yelled, noticing Pakku calmly strolling past them. "Aren't you going to fight!"

"Go back to the healing huts, I'm sure there's something Yugoda could teach you. Like, oh, I don't know, how to be respectful?" He barely even glanced to her over his shoulder as he continued walking away. Katara growled and pulled up a string of water and whipping the Master in the back of the head. Just the sound of it made Zuko's skin crawl, and he sat down, pulling his knee's up to his chest and burying his face into his arms to focus on fighting the demons Katara had woken with the sound of the whip.

Pakku stopped in his tracks and had trouble controlling his temper. He turned and snarled, "You want to learn so badly?" He asked, raising his brow at her. "Fine! Study closely!"

Zuko lifted his head and watched as Master Pakku began to send water towards Katara. He sighed, having pressed the demons from his mind, he figured now would be a good time for an attempt at some comic relief. "If he hurts her, I'll send for that armada." He mumbled towards Aang. He laughed as he sat down next to him.

"Wait," He paused, looking around nervously. "You aren't serious, are you?" He asked, looking over to the firebender.

Zuko chuckled and shook his head. "No." Aang smiled and nodded.

"Why is she doing this?" Sokka asked, sitting down next to Zuko.

"Pakku wouldn't teach her waterbending because she's a girl, then she got mad and told him he needed to, and then he got mad and wouldn't teach me, then Katara got mad and challenged him, then he got even more mad and now they're fighting." Aang said, leaning back to able to look at Sokka passed Zuko's back.

Sokka frowned and shrugged, sounded like something that would happen.

Iroh had to tread carefully to not get hit with any water that was flying around, but he made it the group of people that were now standing around the duel and spotted the kids. He walked over to them stood next to Aang.

"What's going on?" He asked to no one in particular.

"Katara challenged Master Pakku to a water duel." Zuko informed, carefully watching as the two threw water back and forth at the other.

"Oh," Iroh stroked his goatee before figuring out what to say. He looked up towards the fight in front of him and called out to Katara. "Break his root!" He yelled out advice to the young waterbender as he held his fist up. Zuko laughed, remembering his uncle telling him the same thing when he had challenged Zhao, a master firebender, to a fire duel.

Katara must have heard him, she sent up a wave of ice towards his feet. Even in his old age, he was still very agile and nimble. Pakku managed to jump up, eluding the wave as he lifted himself up on a pillar of ice.

"I don't think that advice necessarily works in waterbending." Zuko informed, shrugging towards his uncle as he looked back towards the fight. "Hey!" He yelled out as he stood, noticing that Pakku had trapped Katara between a bunch of ice. He waited, and saw her begin to struggle. Zuko immediately calmed and continued watching.

"This is my necklace," Pakku breathed out, holding the necklace out in front of himself.

"No, it's not!" Katara yelled out from behind him.

"I made this... sixty years ago... for the love of my life... for Kanna..."

The ice around Katara melted, and she asked Pakku if her grandmother was supposed to marry him. He informed her that he had carved it for Kanna when they gotten engaged, that he thought that they were going to have a long, happy life together, and that he had loved her. Katara then realized that her grandmother hadn't loved him back, that it had been arranged marriage, and that had been the reason she had left the Northern Water Tribe. She wasn't about to let their customs run her life.

"That must have taken a lot of courage." Katara breathed out as she looked down to the snow covered ground.

Behind her, Princess Yue had ran off crying. Aang sent Sokka after her, telling him to go get her.

"Looks like courage is something that runs in the family." Iroh pointed out, noticing the acts of courage from this 'Kanna' and from her grandchildren.

After finding out just who Katara was, Master Pakku to not only teach the Avatar in the skill of waterbending, but her as well. He told them that their formal training would begin at sunrise the next morning.

Finally, after that long, hard day, the group began making their way back to their igloo. Before entering, Zuko caught Katara by the hand, stopping her in her tracks.

"I'm sorry for the way I yelled at you earlier." He admitted, taking her into his arms.

She rested her cheek onto his shoulder and apologized for the way she acted. Zuko leaned down and covered her lips with his. Sokka, who had just been passing by, let out an odd cry in disgust. The young firebender turned and glared as Katara snickered. Knowing it would bug her brother, Zuko leaned over Katara and kissed her repeatedly. "Eeewwaah!" Sokka looked away snatched back the sheets of fabric that served as a door to the igloo and threw himself inside. The couple laughed as they stood straight.

"I told you he'd figure it out on his own." He laughed, and made his way into the igloo with her trailing not far behind.

A few paces behind, Iroh smiled and chuckled. "I'm so happy my nephew found comfort in a girl as nice as Katara." He informed, looking over to the young Avatar beside him. His smile quickly faded, though, at sight of the boy sighing and looking down.

"Yeah," He mumbled, kicking at the snow in front of him. "It's great." Iroh took in a breath to speak, but decided now wasn't the time.

!

**Once** morning came, Sokka decided to go see Princess Yue, warrior training wasn't until later, and even though he had learned that she was engaged, he still wanted to hang out with her as friends. He managed to convince her to take a walk with him, telling her about what it was like to live in the Southern Water Tribe, telling her about how there were no palaces and that he had grown up in a 'block of ice' and that it wasn't exactly a 'cultural hub'. She laughed, but told him she felt wrong by being with him. He insisted that it was fine, that they were just taking a walk, and decided to show her Appa.

"Oh, no," He breathed out, noticing the black snow falling from the sky.

"What's happening?" Yue asked, having never seen such a thing before.

"It's soot mixed with snow... it's the Fire Nation..."

!

"What is this?" Aang asked, holding his hand out, catching a few specs of dark snow in the palm of his hand.

"It's the Fire Nation." Katara informed, turning to be able to see the ocean.

"What!" Pakku growled out, turning to glare at Iroh and Zuko, who had been watching the training session.

Aang clinched his fist, scrunching the snow up in his hand as he looked up to his Master. "You didn't look at Zuko the wrong way, did you?" He asked jokingly.

Pakku raised his brow and glanced at him but brushed it off, returning his gaze to the Fire Nation men.

"It's not us," Iroh growled out as he stood. "But I do know who." He took a few paces forwards, looking out towards the ocean, noticing the dark clouds that were inching towards them.

"Who, uncle?" Zuko asked, standing to join him.

"Before the explosion, Admiral Zhao had asked me to join him on a mission as his military adviser, I declined, assuring him that I was needed with you." He informed, shifting his weight towards his nephew. "I thought he was kidding, I thought he was too caught up on his search for the Avatar, but I've noticed a couple of other things that you're not going to be too happy about, Zuko."

"What's that?"

"You were his biggest competitor in the search for the Avatar, nephew, and he was angry with me for not joining him. With our ship being blown to bits, and us both to be thought dead, he doesn't have to worry about you getting the Avatar before him, so he has time to go on with his mission."

Zuko gasped, realizing what Zhao had done. "He tried to have us killed!"

Iroh nodded and continued, "He's going to have a whole fleet of ships, he knows the people of the Northern Water Tribe are strong, he knows where you get your power from, and he seeks to have it removed."

"What?" Pakku gasped, still having trouble deciding if he was going to believe Iroh or not.

"Not to worry, I was once a General in the Army, and Zuko and I were in the Navy for years. We will aid you against him during this attack, but we'll have to remain hidden, we don't want the Fire Lord knowing we're alive."

"How can I possibly trust you?" Master Pakku asked, taking a deadly step towards Iroh. "First you two show up and now a whole fleet of Fire Nation Navy ships are on their way here? You've probably just joined the Avatar to have an easy way to capture him."

Iroh laughed. "If you don't want my nephew and I to help you when Zhao attacks, then all I can do is wish you luck against him. You won't win, though, and your people will fall. I know exactly what he's going to do, and I can't give you that information if I'm locked up somewhere for false accusations due to your paranoia, now can I?" Iroh smirked and turned, knowing Pakku would try to stop him before he walked too far away. Zuko also smirked, knowing his uncle had just successfully swayed Pakku into trusting him whether he wanted to not.

"Wait," The water master called. Iroh paused and looked at him over his shoulder. "What do you mean we won't win? We're one of the only places that hasn't fallen to the Fire Nation, we haven't fallen yet, and we won't. How dare you underestimate us." Zuko rolled his eyes, knowing Pakku was trying turn the blame back onto them.

"I don't know, as a member of the Fire Nation and enemy to the Water Tribes, I'm afraid it would be traitorous of me to give you that information." Iroh stated smoothly and slyly.

Pakku scrunched his face in frustration and tried to think of something witty to say. "Maybe he'll tell you if you swallow your pride and apologize to him." Katara joked as she crossed her arms and shifted her weight onto one leg, repeating what Chief Arnook had said to her about Master Pakku.

"Why don't you go inform Chief Arnook about how there is a whole armada of Fire Navy ship on it's way here and see what he has to say about it!" Pakku growled out, angry that he had lost.

Iroh nodded and began making his way towards the Palace with the group of kids trailing not far behind.

"What is this?" The chief growled out as he stood, angered at the sight of the Fire Nation members before him. "What have you done? I've warned you," He he said lowly, pointing towards the firebenders.

"It's not them!" Aang cried out, worried at the sight of the groups of guards beside the throne.

"My nephew and I can easily help you during this attack. I know who is commanding it and I know his intentions." Iroh said as he bowed before the Water Chief, Zuko mimicking his actions.

"How can I be sure this isn't a trap?"

"Admiral Zhao plans to eliminate the moon spirit, knowing that is where you and your people get your power from. You must keep both Tui and La safe during this invasion."

"I was in the Navy for nearly three years, I can easily infiltrate them and have the ships taken down from the inside." Zuko informed, trying to assure the Chief that he and his uncle were on his side.

"What?" Katara screeched out. "No way, Zuko! No way are you going out there. I'm not letting you out of my sight while a whole bunch of jerks are out there!" She held her out towards the ocean.

"Like you let him out of your sight anyways," Sokka grumbled, entering the throne room just as she had been speaking. She turned and glared at her brother over her shoulder.

Chief Arnook sighed, knowing Iroh would not have given that information if he was still loyal to the Fire Nation and their plans. "Very well, I will trust you and your nephew."

Arnook called his people and informed that the Fire Nation was at their door step and sadly asked them to come forth, and help aid to defend their people and their nation.

"Sokka!" Katara scolded after seeing him stand. "Zuko!" She tugged on his hoodie, trying to pull him back down after he stood along side her brother.

"I'm going to help, Katara." He told her through clinched teeth.

She pouted and crossed her arms over her chest in defeat.

"I'm sure they'll be fine." Aang said softly, resting a hand on her shoulder.

!

Before Joining Aang and Yue, Katara took Zuko aside before he followed Sokka to the warrior's training center.

"What's wrong?" He asked, allowing her to wrap her arms around his torso.

"I need you, Zuko. You have to stay safe."

"I need you, too, Katara. I will." He assured, wrapping his arms around her.

"Promise me."

"I promise." He smiled and placed a small kiss on her forehead before turning to follow Sokka. Before he got too far, Katara called out to him.

"Zuko," He paused and turned towards her. "I..." She hesitated and fidgeted as she looked around nervously.

"What?"

"I- uh... Be nice to Sokka." He nodded and turned to continue following him.

Katara sighed and had to run to catch up with Princess Yue and Aang.

!

"Station a group of water benders at the front gate, prepare for battle." Arnook ordered to one of his servants.

"Dont," Iroh called from behind him. Arnook turned and raised his brow.

"Zhao will send one ship out first to try to as much damage as he can from afar, and to try and intimidate you and your people. Don't wear your best benders out, they'll need their strength. Have a small, elite team take out the first ship and have them report back as soon as possible. Have civilians in the upper ring, out of range of the catapults. Station small groups of water benders near the main gate, have them try to put as many fire balls as they can once the main fleet begins attacking."

"How can you be so sure?" Before Iroh could answer, a large crash brought their attention towards the ocean. On the horizon, a single Navy ship could be seen. The fire ball had made contact with the front wall and Aang had set off towards the ship on Appa.

"That's how."

"I see, I won't be underestimating your judgment again, General Iroh. I can see why this 'Admiral Zhao' wanted you as his adviser." The Chief assured, resting a hand on Iroh's shoulder.

"Thank you, but please, just call me Iroh. I no longer belong to the Fire Nation, and that title lost it's worth long ago."

"I'm going to see how the group your nephew and Sokka are doing."

!

"...you'll all need one of these uniforms." Arnook informed, holding his arm out towards a young warrior dressed in an old Fire Navy armor suit. At the sight of it, both Zuko and Sokka laughed.

"What's your problem?" The young man that was wearing the suit asked, annoyed by their rude interruption.

"Fire Navy uniforms don't look like that." Sokka started.

"Not at all," Zuko added on.

"Of course they do, these are real uniforms from real Fire Navy Soldiers."

"When? Like, a hundred years ago?" Sokka asked.

"Eighty five..." Arnook admitted, knowing it was outdated.

"We don't wear those ridiculous shoulder spikes anymore. They're far more streamline, and far more protective." Zuko pointed out, noticing the suit didn't even have metal chest plate as Sokka held down the spike before releasing it, having it bounce back and forth.

"How do we know we can trust these guys? I hear you're the Fire Prince, and you," The boy looked over Zuko's shoulder to Sokka. "Are just some new recruit from the Southern Water Tribe."

"Zuko has abandoned the Fire Nation to join the Avatar, he and his uncle are aiding us against them during this attack. Sokka is from our sister tribe, Hahn, a capable warrior, both are trustworthy and I value their input." Chief Arnook turned to face the rest of the men in the group. "We already know their commanding officer is a man named Zhao, we'll need to figure out which ship is his, and take it down from the inside."

"He'll be on the flagship, the biggest ship in the fleet, it won't be hard to spot." Zuko informed, shifting his weight onto one leg.

"I want you two to tell Hahn everything you know. Hahn, show them both your respect, I expect nothing less from my future son-in-law." Zuko covered his mouth to better hold back his laughter at the sight of Sokka's jaw dropping once hearing this information. He couldn't believe that he was one who had been engaged to Princess Yue, but congratulated them anyways.

Zuko searched the weapon wall for a dao sword, once finding some he deemed worthy, he plucked them from the wall and joined Sokka and Hahn at the sharpening wheels. Over hearing their conversation, it was pretty obvious that Sokka had not taken a liking to Hahn, telling him that Princess Yue was being wasted on a self absorbed weasel like him, at hearing Hahn's reply, Sokka jumped on him.

"Hey!" Zuko cried out, watching as they rolled over the floor.

"You're just a jerk without a soul!" Sokka yelled, throwing a punch down at the warrior below him. "No offense!" Hahn twisted them over a couple times and Zuko took the opportunity to pull them apart while they were close to him.

"Get off him, Sokka." Hahn had extended his arm out to hit Sokka, but when Zuko had leaned down to take Sokka off him, his fist made contact with the firebenders cheek. "Hey!" Zuko growled, throwing Sokka off him and taking his place. "Don't you dare hit me!" He yelled, punching Hahn in the jaw. "I was helping you!" He growled, taking another swing at the young man's face.

"Don't take me off him just so you can fight him!" Sokka yelled, pulling at Zuko's hoodie. "Move it!"

"That's enough!" Arnook yelled out, pulling Zuko off the warrior and tossing him over to stand next to Sokka. "You two are both off this mission!" He declared, turning and leaving quickly, making sure his word was final.

After Hahn and his group of men left, Sokka took his boomerang and sharpening took, pouting as he sat down. Zuko sat next him and cleaned the blades on the dao swords he had picked out. At the sight of the Chief walking in the room, he held his arms up and assured him that he had only hit Hahn because he had hit him first. Arnook waved him off and turned to face Sokka.

"I was going to take you two off the mission anyways, you just gave me an opportunity to do it sooner."

"What? Why did you want us off this mission?" Zuko asked as he stood.

"I want you two to guard my daughter, Princess Yue."

The two boys were guided to the spirit oasis, where Princess Yue stood beside Katara as Aang sat, meditating in front of a pond.

At the sound of their foots steps, Aang opened an eye, breaking his concentration. Zuko came up and stood beside him, noticing the two koi fish swimming the pond before him.

"So these are the moon and ocean spirits. They're Tui and La, push and pull, yin and yang." At this, Aang's breath caught in his throat as the words 'yin and yang' echoed throughout his brain. The two fish seemed as though they were meshing together, forming the symbol. At this, he began to cross over into the spirit world. Zuko stood back, the sudden glow startling him. The last time he had seen it, Aang damaged his ship greatly.

"Wow, Zuko," Katara breathed. "How'd you know that?" The firebender turned and stood next to her.

"My uncle did some studying on waterbending, and when I was bored on the ship he'd give me scrolls to read. Some of them had information about the spirits on them, but I guess those scrolls had either been copies or were copies, that's how Zhao knows about them, too... why is the Avatar going into the spirit world?"

"He wants to see if anyone can tell him how to better protect the fish."

Zuko hummed and nodded as he turned and noticed the moon, he walked away from Aang for a spit second to look at it before the sun began to rise with the group following not far behind, and in that spit second, a group of fire benders, along with Zhao, had managed to slip in and round the avatar up and catch Tui in a small bag. At the sight of the moon turning red, they turned, noticing Zhao standing in front of the pond, holding up the bag for all to see.

"Ugh," Yue groaned out, placing a hand on her head and slacking back. Sokka put an arm around her to help support her up. "I feel faint."

The group of men Zhao had brought with him immediately advanced towards the kids and one of the men clawed at Princess Yue.

"Don't touch her!" Sokka yelled, punching the man in the nose as he snatched Yue away from him. Katara joined her brother against the group as Zuko cautiously approached Zhao.

"Prince Zuko!" He yelled, noticing just who was making his way towards him. "You're alive!" He gasped, lowering his arm down.

"You tried to have me killed!" The young firebender shifted into a stance and Zhao lifted his hand towards the bag that held the struggling fish, the moon spirit.

Aang's glow vanished and he immediately airbended himself from who ever had a grasp on him and landed into his own stance beside the Fire Prince, noticing Zhao's raised fish.

"Zhao!" Aang cried, easing out of his stance. "Don't!" Zhao scrunched his face tightened his fist, his stare on the Avatar suddenly shifting towards Zuko, who had been knocked down by a soldier the water tribe boy had managed to kick down. Sokka aimed his boomerang towards Zhao, now having a clear shot.

Zuko lifted his head and noticed his uncle silently crossing over one of the bridges. "Uncle!" He cried out, happy to see him during this chaos.

Zhao turned and looked, still holding the bag and his fist up. "General Iroh! You're both alive?" He gasped out, glancing back and forth at the two traitorous firebenders.

"The spirits are not to be trifled with, Zhao. Let it go, now!" Iroh warned, taking a stance. Zhao scrunched his face, but lowered the bag to the water, releasing the fish back into the pond. Then, suddenly, he stood and sent a fire blast towards the water, lashing the back of the fish, killing it. Iroh attacked him and another small group of soldiers, easily out-doing them. As Zhao tried to slip away, Zuko stood and grabbed him by the wrists, pulling his hands behind his back.

"Where do you think you're going?" He hissed, taking Zhao to the ground.

"Let go of me, you traitor!" The admiral growled, wiggling underneath the young firebender.

"You're the traitor here, Zhao. You tired to have the Fire Prince killed, you've just killed the moon spirit, sending everything out of balance. Me joining the avatar and ending this war will help the world, including the Fire Nation. I am not a traitor!"

Zhao growled and twisted, glaring at Zuko from the corners of his eye. "You should have accepted your fate!" The two stopped their struggle and gasped, noticing a giant, glowing, blue hand inching towards them. Zuko pushed himself up and stepped back.

"You have upset the spirits, Zhao," Zuko growled, realizing this was an enraged La, spiritually latched with the Avatar. "Accept your fate!" Zhao turned and snarled at Zuko over his shoulder. He twisted and faced back towards the water and glared up at it before taking a step forwards, into it's hand.

La took him and seeped back into the pond before spreading out into the canals that ran throughout the Northern Water Tribes layout, wiping out all who posed as a threat towards him or his people.

Yue, Iroh, Sokka, and Katara had sat in front of the fish in the pond. Zuko came and stood next them just as Yue opened her eyes, realizing something. "I owe the moon spirit my life," She breathed out as she stood. Sokka immediately took her hand in his, stopping her in her tracks.

"What are you doing?" He cried, tightening his grip around her fingers.

"She gave me life. Maybe I can give it back."

"No!" Sokka stood and held her tighter. "You can't! Your father told me to protect you! I won't let you do it! I have to protect you!"

"I have to do this," She breathed.

"No! I have to protect you!" Sokka reached for her with his other hand, but Zuko stopped him, taking the warriors shoulder into his hand. Sokka paused and looked at him over his shoulder, startled, not realizing he had been there. This hesitation gave Yue the opportunity to step away from him, placing both hands on the koi fish Iroh held up to her.

Sokka turned and faced back towards her just as she fell limp. He caught her before she hit the ground and sat, wrapping his arms around her. He gasped as she literally faded away. He watched as Iroh placed the fish back into the pond, and Yue's spirit rose, assuring him that she would always be with him before placing a kiss onto his lips. She faded, and he turned away from the pond.

"No!" He cried, slamming his fists into the ground. "No! I couldn't do it! I didn't protect her! I failed! Again!" He leaned over and covered his face with his hands.

"Are you kidding me?" Zuko asked softly, gently placing at hand on the tormented warriors shoulder. "Sokka, this was something she had to do. You took out multiple firebending men that are least twice your age without hesitation to keep them away from her. Had you allowed them to get her," Zuko paused, watching as Sokka scrunched up even more, covering his face with his forearms. "She wouldn't have been able to bring Tui back, the moon would be gone and everything would have been taken out of balance. You did protect her, Sokka," Zuko assured as he leaned, allowing the restored moon shine it's light down onto him. Sokka sniffed and looked up as he wiped his face with the back of his hand, looking up to the sky. He huffed and tried to regain his composure as Katara reached over and wiped away the tear trails from his other cheek. "Now she will protect you."

* * *

**A/N:** **Thank you all so much** for your reviews and for adding this to your alerts and favorites. I've made a tumblr to have a place to upload manips/graphics - whatever you want to call them - I make for this story. Links will be on my profile.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: ********BEWARE!** THIS WILL BE RATED **********"M"** FOR MATURE!

* * *

"**Who** was that girl?" Katara asked to no one in particular. They had made it Omashu, and much to their dismay, it had fallen by the Fire Nation's hand. They had snuck in through a pipe, Iroh staying hidden with Appa. Zuko would have stayed, too, if it wasn't for both his and Katara's paranoia.

Zuko huffed, and kicked at the dust on the floor. They were under ground, with the 'resistance'. After three weeks of 'rest' in the Northern Water Tribe and nearly another of flying to get to the city, he had been so exited to finally have a place to begin training again and gaining back the muscle he had lost. He had insisted that they stopped at the sea port village to get some stretch time, and so he could pick up something from Master Takumi, and they did. They had taken a quick rest stop before taking five day trip to Omashu and Zuko desperately wanted to get into an open space where he could throw around some fire. Now he was stuck under ground with a bunch of angry soldiers.

"I don't know, but those daggers are pretty scary!" Sokka exclaimed, waving his arms out in the air. "She shot them from up her sleeves!" He mimicked the girls movements and made noises as he jabbed the air, Aang moving and swaying around, dodging the pretend daggers Sokka was pretend shooting at him.

"Yeah," Katara agreed. If it hadn't been for her fast reflexes and waterbending, her back would have been impaled by four or five daggers that girl had sent her way.

They continued walking, following the group of soldiers that were guiding them through the mazes of tunnels they had made, taking the group of kids to a room filled with bunk-beds, hammocks, mats, and sleeping bags scattered all over the place.

Aang and Sokka both chose themselves each a hammock while Zuko and Katara both nestled down into one of the beds that had been carved into the rock wall together.

When morning came, they were going to go through with Sokka's plan to give everyone a bad case of 'penta pox' so they could help the city's civilians evacuate the stolen city and get their freedom back, and to live to fight another day.

For now, Zuko wrapped his arm around the waterbender's small waist and pulled her close to him, swinging a leg over both of hers, snuggling with the girl he felt he was falling for.

"That was Mai," He whispered into her ear, hoping that she had been asleep and hadn't heard him the moment the words left his lips, immediately regretting his decision to tell her who the girl with the daggers was. But of course, she had been awake and she had heard him. He watched and sighed as she furrowed her brow, turning onto her back to be able to look at him. She pressed her lips together and held her gaze on him. "That was Mai," He repeated softly. "That girl, that's Mai."

Katara bit her lip and looked away from him for a slit second before looking back up at him, focusing on his amber eyes. "She's the one you were with?" He nodded. She huffed and fidgeted, messing with her nails before looking back up at him. "Does that change anything?"

Zuko swallowed hard, his eyes darting around across her face, trying to read her eyes and facial expressions. It had been a simple question that could easily be answered with a simple 'yes' or 'no'. But Zuko wasn't simple, and he answered with a complicated, "I don't know." He admitted this as he turned over onto his back.

Katara's breath caught in her throat as she tensed up, clinching her fist as she rolled over onto her stomach, propping herself up with her elbows as she raised her voice at him, "You don't know?" She asked, raising her brows, mouth slightly hanging open in disbelief.

"Shh," He hissed, glaring at her through the corners of his eyes. "I don't know, Katara." He growled, looking away from her.

"What do you mean you 'don't know'?"

Zuko huffed and looked up to the slab of rock that hung over him. Why couldn't it just fall and crush him? End this torment of never knowing what to do, or the difference between right and wrong? "She reminds me of home." He breathed out, trying not to think about the Fire Nation, but of course, it burned it's way into his brain, gnawing away at him.

Seeing Mai, in a weird way, gave him hope. Usually where ever she was, Azula wasn't far behind or ahead. Zuko was with the Avatar. He could easily show up out of no where, the lost Prince that was thought to be dead, suddenly showing up with the Fire Nation's most wanted in his hands, assuring the Fire Nation's victory, ending the war. Regaining his honor, his father's love, his right to the throne, Mai, everything and everyone he had lost, aside from his mother. One decision, one final act against the Avatar, and he could have it all back over night.

"Home?" Katara's soft voice ripped him from these thoughts and struck him with guilt. "Where is 'home', Zuko? The Fire Nation?" She asked. He could tell by the shake in her voice that she was incredibly worried and scared, trying to hold back tears. His silence and refusal to answer broke her, and the tears began falling from her eyes.

In her mind, he was going to leave. He was going to leave her. He was going to leave her alone. He couldn't. Who would help her fight her demons? He had been the only one there on the pirate boat, he had been the one to comfort her whenever the demons were woken up. Now he was going to leave her to have them take her. She couldn't win against the monsters that lived within her, not alone, not without him.

The torment of knowing that she had been stolen from herself, that if any from her tribe ever found she had been taken so young, she could be disowned.

She had gotten her cycle once before leaving with Sokka and Aang, what if he had gotten her pregnant? That was something she wouldn't be able to hide or keep secret. He'd leave her alone with that baby to forever remind her of the horrors that took place on the cargo boat.

He'd leave her alone where no one understood what she went through. He'd leave her alone where no one could help her. Where no one could save her from herself.

"You're going to leave me?" She cried, pressing her face down into her pillow, muffling her sobs.

"No," He breathed out, quickly turning onto his right side, placing a hand onto her shoulder.

"Yes you are!" She cried into the pillow. "You're gunna give them Aang and you're gunna leave me!" Zuko wiggled over to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "You can't leave me, Zuko."

"I'm not going to leave you," He growled, scolding her for making so much noise at this time of night.

"Yes you are!"

"I'm not!" The firebender shifted and put his body over hers, a leg placed on either side of hers, arms snaking underneath to be able to hold her. "I'm not going to leave you."

"I don't believe you!"

"I promise you, Katara, I promise I'm not going to leave you." His voice was low, but no longer harsh. He was speaking frantically, desperately trying to get her to trust that he wasn't going to leave and betray her. He slid his fingers underneath her cheek, turning her to have her face him. He covered her lips with his, kissing her hard and long. He felt her shaking and trembling as tears still streaked down her face.

Katara turned her face away from him, ripping her lips from his. Her eyes were still clamped shut as her fingers curled down into the pillow. 'What is wrong with you?' She scolded herself. 'Crying over Zuko!' She still hadn't fully came to terms of just how much she really needed him, mainly because she didn't know herself just how much that really was, but also partly because she still didn't want to need him the way she did.

She had been torn to shreds mentally so quickly and suddenly, latching onto him, deeming him as the only thing that could remedy and ease her mind. A small part of her was still angry with him for how he had been so bent on catching the Avatar, though she now knew that he hadn't known any better. She scolded herself for needing him, then she scolded herself for being angry with him.

This was a cycle she was till trying to break. It was either continue harboring all that anger towards him, forcing him away, forcing him to leave her alone with herself, to lose the war against the demons in her head, she knew she would without him, or fall into him as she had been allowing herself to do, and end up being far, far more happy in the end.

'Stop.' She told herself, calming and easing up, allowing him to hold her. Zuko made her stomach flutter like no one had ever before, she so easily get lost in his beautiful, amber eyes, she could listen to his voice for days, no matter the subject of which he spoke. And being held in his arms? Don't even get her started. Even if she was angry with him, she would absolutely melt into his arms, into his kisses. With him there, with the warmth that radiated off him, the smallest word in his voice, even a glance from his eyes, slightest touch of his skin and all of her troubles were gone and she was at ease.

He continued to hold her throughout the night, falling asleep with her held tightly in his arms.

!

Zuko had been awake for hours, but stayed still, Katara's head resting on his chest. He had been holding his eyes shut, trying to block out everything, all the second guessing, confusion, demons, everything. But opened his eyes when he felt an odd presence looming over him. His eyes opened only to see Sokka standing there, staring down at his sister.

"Has she been crying?" He asked, leaning over as he pointed to her. Zuko turned and looked, noticing the streaks of dry tears covering her cheeks. They had turned during the night, him onto his back, her onto her side, resting her cheek and hand on his chest to where she could be seen past him through the cubby hole.

"She must have been crying in her sleep," He mumbled, gently running his thumb over the soft, tan skin that covered her cheek bone. He felt terribly guilty, making her cry the way she did last night. He didn't want to think about it and he didn't want to be reminded of it.

Katara grumbled and swatted away at his hand as she turned over, facing his back towards him.

"She needs to get up." Sokka huffed, standing up straight as he crossed his arms over his chest. "We need to go get those people out of here."

"You wake her." Zuko growled, slipping his arm out from underneath her as he swung his legs over the edge of the cubby hole that served them as a bed.

"Morning, Zuko." Aang greeted, waving as he smiled towards the firebender. Zuko glared and snarled at him as he shoved a foot into one of his boots.

"Morning," He growled. On their way to Omashu, they had to go through a labyrinth of tunnels after having a run in with small platoon of Fire Nation soldiers. In that tunnel, he had been separated from Katara, her being separated from him and the whole group all except Aang. After finally finding their way out of the tunnels while riding a pair of badger-moles, the Avatar and Katara had already found their way out, after being asked just how they had managed, the Avatar had stated that they had 'let love lead the way'. Whatever that meant. Zuko wasn't sure just what he had meant exactly, but he knew he didn't like it. That boy being alone with his girl. Katara was his, tension in the air between them or not.

The firebender was pleased to hear that the Avatar wouldn't be joining them today, he'd be out in search of his old friend that was said to be the King of Omashu, King Bumi, to see if he'd teach him earthbending.

!

It took a great while getting everyone ready, all spotted up and dressed in their sickly garb, the sun was high in the sky by the time Sokka explained to everything that looking the part just wasn't going to sell it and that if they were going to make it believable, they were going to have to act sick as well.

Zuko had managed to find a dark green colored hoodie that would cover his face and keep him hidden from the Fire Nation in plain sight as he aided in the escape of the Omashu civilians, slipping right underneath the Fire Nation soldiers noses.

!

It was just nightfall when Aang made his way to the camp site, explaining to Katara and Sokka that there had been no sign of Bumi. Katara wrapped her arms around his neck to comfort him, but quickly tore from him as she spun around after being informed that an extra person had left Omashu with them. The trio stood and stared as Zuko turned to face them, a small child held in his arms.

As they sat around the campfire, Zuko bounced Tomtom on his knee as Katara exchanged words with the leader of the resistance, telling him that Tomtom was cute, and looked nothing of a killer. But, Yung had been right. If the war did continue, Tomtom would eventually join the army, and kill and probably be killed in battle as so many other men before him had.

A messenger hawk arrived, a letter from the Governor stating that in exchange for his son, he'd hand over their King Bumi. Aang of course agree'd without hesitation, not caring it was a trap or not. The trade would go down in the afternoon of the next day.

Zuko sighed, leaning back up against the Avatar's sky bison as he examined the toddler he held in his arms. Of course, he just had to have those same grey eyes of his sister.

Zuko huffed and looked up, making pictures with the stars so far above him.

"Is everything alright, nephew?" Iroh asked softy as he took a seat next to the young firebender.

"This is Mai's brother, uncle." Zuko informed him in a voice just above a whisper. Iroh raised his brow as his eyes darted across the toddlers face, searching for any kind of resemblance he could place between the two siblings.

"She's here?"

Zuko nodded and looked back down to Tomtom, who was now sound asleep against his chest. He huffed and looked forward, watching as Katara sat around the camp fire with her brother and the Avatar, listening to what happened to Omashu once the Fire Nation arrived. "I'm confused, uncle." Zuko admitted. Iroh gasped, shocked that Zuko was admitting this and coming to him for advice. Was he being serious? Had he actually heard that? Had Zuko even actually said that? Was Iroh dreaming? Zuko, coming to him for advice? Gosh, that girl must really be getting to him, changing him.

"How so?" Iroh asked softly, leaning in towards Zuko, letting him know that he was listening.

Zuko sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "I like Katara, I do, and... I feel a lot... better... with her around," He took his time, carefully choosing his words, trying to describe the way he was feeling the best he could. "But, with us thought to be dead, father has probably called for Azula to begin searching the Avatar, and you know she'd want Mai on her team. If we - if I-..."

Iroh sighed and looked away, knowing exactly what was troubling Zuko. That poor boy, he just wanted to get home. That's all he had wanted since the moment he had stepped foot on that big hulk of steel that served as their ship for nearly three years. Well, now it had been three years. That's a long time to be away from home.

"Well, Zuko," Iroh began softly and slowly, also taking the time to carefully choose his own words. "You've changed, greatly, and you're still changing. Three years is a long time, I'm sure things have changed in the Fire Nation as well. What if you do this, and nothing is what it used to be? What you thought it would be? And you lose everything you have going with that beautiful young woman over there?" He asked, motioning over towards the waterbender.

"What if I don't do it and everything isn't what I thought it would be here?" Iroh huffed and looked away.

"If you betray the Avatar, you will not only be betraying him and the waterbender, but me as well. I made a deal with him that if he helped me find you, I'd teach him firebending. I'm not one to go back on my word, Zuko. If you do betray him, the war will continue, and more and more people will lose their homes, families, their lives. There will be no hope left in the world, anywhere. If you continue to stick by him, not only will you get a chance to be happy with Katara, but you will have the chance to become the greatest and most honorable Fire Lord in history, Zuko. You must realize what is most important to _you_. Not anyone else. Who are you? What do you want?" Iroh sighed and stood. "I hope you help bring an end this war, nephew. The right way..." He left Zuko with these words and made his way over to the fire pit, silently taking a seat next to the waterbender.

Zuko huffed and closed his eyes as he leaned his head back, into the soft, plush fur of the sky bison. He wasn't sure, but he'd figure he'd have to make up his mind tomorrow when he went with the group to trade Tomtom for Bumi. He knew Azula would be there, and that's when he'd decide whether to betray or commit to the Avatar, and to Katara.

!

The next day's afternoon came and they stood at one end of the platform, Aang in front, staff in hand. Sokka to his right, Tomtom in hand. Katara to his left, water skin at her side. Zuko stood to her left, covered with the dark green hoodie he had found the day before, fists clinched tight as he saw the trio of females walking towards them. He had been correct about Azula showing up in search of Mai's company on her hunt for the Avatar and it looked as though their other childhood friend, Ty Lee, was along for the ride.

"Bumi!" Aang cried as they began lifting him. Mai had declared the deal off after Azula and her exchanged a couple of words.

"Aang, you idiot!" Zuko scolded through clinched teeth. Of course, the boy airbended himself upwards, revealing himself to the Princess of the Fire Nation, his newest, greatest threat.

Azula immediately took off after him, leaving Ty Lee and Mai to single them out. Sokka made a run for it with Tomtom in his arms, eluding both of the girls, leaving Katara and Zuko to have to deal with them.

Katara managed to freeze Mai's arm, but Ty Lee quickly came up behind her and used chi blocking to halt her bending. Zuko turned and advanced towards her, dodging the acrobat's jabs.

"Hey, you seem familiar," She admitted, taking a swing at one of his pressure points in his left arm, leaving it hanging limp. "Have I fought with you before?" She asked sweetly, though as she did she had been taking another swing at another pressure point, missing at the distraction of Mai's voice calling out her name.

"Ty Lee!" Mai called. "Where's that boy with my brother?" The girl in pink paused, looking over the edge of the wooden platform, noticing the boy in Water Tribe garb making a run for it with the toddler held tightly in his arms.

"I'll go get him!" She took a sudden, quick jab at Zuko's right arm, disabling that one for a short while as well before taking off after Sokka.

Katara attempted to water bend again, but failed. She had never experienced something like this before and panicked.

"I can't water bend, Zuko!" She cried, attempting to raise the water again, not realizing she had just blew his cover.

"Zuko?" Mai gasped, leaning over to be able to see him past the disabled waterbender. Of course, because nothing ever worked in his favor and the universe hated him, a gust of wind sent the hood backwards, revealing his face to her. "Zuko!" She cried, launching herself towards him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "You're alive!" She cried and held him tighter, but suddenly pulled away, pushing him away from her. "What are you doing with the Avatar!" She growled. "How could you betray your people like this? Betray me?" Her voice was low and dangerous.

Zuko growled and glared at Katara. "Good going," He growled, snarling at her. She furrowed her brow and pouted as she watched him turn back towards Mai.

"Who's she?" She asked, motioning towards Katara. He stayed silent, not knowing how to answer. "Who is she, Zuko?" She asked, taking a deadly step towards them, the end of a blade peeking out from underneath her sleeve. "Why are you doing this?" She breathed.

"Mai," He forced himself to speak, taking a single step towards her.

"How could you do this, Zuko? Lie and betray your whole country? And me!" She yelled, taking a stance, holding out her blade.

"I'm helping my country! Everyone! Including you!" He cried out, holding out a hand towards her, finally getting some control back.

"By joining our biggest threat?" She breathed, lowering her stance a bit as she tilted her head at him in confusion. What on earth was this boy doing? She couldn't believe it.

When she had been told that he had been killed, her heart shattered. Then, he shows up alive, but next to the Avatar and some girl. Not only was he betraying his entire country, but her as well. They had been together for years, or at least that's what she thought. All of those letters, all that effort she put in to try to keep in contact with him. She had just gotten so busy, her father's career was booming, he had been climbing to the top so rapidly and everything was changing so fast. Her mother had just given birth to Tomtom and insisted that she would be the main one to help with the baby, despite their countless servants. It wasn't her fault they had lost contact, drifted apart. In her mind, they were still together, they had never actually broken up. She loved him.

"Yes, Mai!" He ripped from her thoughts as he took another step towards her. "I'm going to end this war, the right way! If my father captures the Avatar, the war will continue, think about what it's doing to the Fire Nation, Mai." He ended softly, desperately trying to guilt trip her.

"Everything is fine," She growled, glaring over to him as she tensed back up.

"No, it's not! So many people are losing everything everyday. Their homes, their lives, their loved ones. Even me. What about my mom? Or your brother?" She completely faded out of her stance and listened closely to his words. What about Tomtom? He was fine. "He'll grow up one day, and join the army. You want him to go through that? To have to kill and probably be killed?"

She gasped and took a step back, appalled at what he had just said. "How dare you, Zuko! Why would you say something like that?"

"You know it's true, Mai! If I do this, I'll help the Avatar defeat my father. I'll become Fire Lord. I'll end the war and help rebuild the world, and the Fire Nation."

Mai's scowl fell and her eyes lowered to the group. He was right, nothing in the Fire Nation was okay. It was hidden to the people in the upper ring, leaving them oblivious to the problems throughout the rest of the fire territory. She hadn't actually traveled through or seen the details, but their move from their house in the upper most ring, closest to the palace, to Omashu, having to cross through the Fire Nation, stopping at a couple colonies, told her everything. So many sick and wounded people. People that were dying, people that were dead. All of that had been kept out of sight, but she had seen so much horror by just making a simple move. She didn't want that for her brother, or for anyone, actually.

She huffed and bit her lip. What if he didn't make it? What if something happens that renders him useless to the Avatar? Or something happens that leaves the Avatar useless? What if Zuko actually get's killed? For real? What if he fails? Mai looked away, shoving these worries from her mind before slowly looking back up at him. Who was she kidding? It was Zuko she was thinking about. Zuko, the one who never, ever gave up. He'd keep fighting until his very last breath and the very last beat of his heart. Zuko wouldn't lose. He'd fight, and win, as he somehow always managed to do, even with all odds against him.

Her mindset had been changed. She now understood exactly what he was doing and why he was doing it. Zuko had always wanted the better for people and always tried his very best to look out for them. That's what had gotten him banished. That's how he had lost everything. He was doing what he knew to get it all back. It made sense, she figured, forgiving him for joining the Avatar.

But that did not serve as an excuse as to why he had been running around with some water girl! Mai looked up, noticing the girl had backed away to the corner of the platform, giving them some privacy, but sticking close enough to stay near him. Mai studied her, she could tell that something had been going on between her and Zuko, she could feel it up in the air.

"You still haven't answered my other question, Zuko," She reminded calmly, staring into his amber orbs. "Who is she?" She watched carefully as he turned and looked over to the waterbender, then slowly, back to her. Just by the look on his face, she knew. Mai bit her lip and clinched her fist as she looked down, away from him.

"Mai," He called softly, raising a hand to her cheek after finally getting full control back to his arms. She immediately flinched away from his touch.

"Do you love her?" She asked quickly, voice barely above a whisper.

"What?" He asked, taking another step closer to her.

"Do you love her?" She repeated, this time in a growl as she glared up at him. Zuko took in a deep breath as he tensed up. He knew he needed her, but love her? That he honestly didn't know.

"Yes," He allowed the word to fly from his mouth, hissing at the end, wondering if his own words were true or not. "I'll always love you, too, though." Her eyes widened at his words and she lifted her chin to look up at him. She knew he meant it in way that they couldn't be together, but just hearing the words 'I'll always love you' from him directed to her was enough.

"Fine," She spat, turning away from him as she bit her lip. "Your secrets safe with me." She growled, placing a hand on her forearm, glaring past him to the waterbender. She began to walk away when he caught her by the arm. She turned and stared back at him. She pressed her lips together. She hesitated, but took a single step forwards before raising up to kiss him.

It was short and sweet, but meant so, so much. That was the last one. Ever. It was done. It was over. They were done. They were over. He was going to go off and fight side by side with the Avatar, while she would go off and try to distract Azula in every way possible without making it obvious. She could feel that he had changed, he wasn't the Zuko she grew up with. He wasn't the same as he was before, he had changed while she had stayed the same. He had let go while she held on.

But that was okay, she figured. As long as he was happy.

She turned and left before he could see her cry.

Zuko turned just as Sokka was showing up with Iroh and the baby on Appa. He had an unconscious Ty Lee in the saddle, how he managed to out-do her, both Zuko and Katara had no idea, but kept quite as he dumped her onto the platform. Someone would be sure to come find her eventually, she would be fine.

"There's Aang!" Katara pointed out, noticing him using the mail slides to try and out run the girl not far behind him.

"And there's Azula." Iroh informed, watching as she bent blasts of blue fire towards the young Avatar.

"Hm," Sokka pipped up as he got Appa as close them as he could. "She's kinda pretty."

"That's my sister!" Zuko growled, having trouble keeping his hood down.

"Yeah?" Sokka asked, turning to look back at him. "Well, Katara is my sister, but that never stopped you." Zuko rolled his eyes and watched as Aang attempted to hop into the sky bison's saddle, over shooting and flying right over them, just out of reach.

Aang managed to elude Azula, with the help of Bumi and after the king explained to the Avatar about why he had surrendered and what he would need to look for in an earthbending teacher, Aang hopped on Appa and later returned Tomtom back to his parents without being seen.

!

Zuko huffed as he leaned back into their bags on the back of the sky bison's saddle, using them to support his back while he rested. He hummed a greeting as Katara sank down next to him, using his arm as a pillow.

They sat in silence for a while, until Katara began to speak, her words just above a whisper as she mumbled, "I saw you kiss her." She breathed, looking away from him.

The firebender furrowed his brow and glared at her. "Like you didn't kiss the Avatar in those caves?" He growled.

"Ugh," She rolled her eyes. "It didn't mean anything!"

"I'm sure it didn't," He spat at her sarcastically. She bit her lip and turned her back towards him.

The kiss between her and the Avatar may have not of meant something, but the one between him and Mai had.

It had a lot of meaning, actually. It had meant that he was committed to the Avatar and his plan to defeat his father and end the war against the Fire Nation, his home. He was leaving not only Mai, but his country as well. Everything. Everything he had lost he was finally allowing himself to let go of. He had held on so tightly for so many years. The kiss was a goodbye to all of those memories, good or bad, all of the hardships, frustration, anger, confusion, sadness, depression. A goodbye to everything and everyone from his old life.

Zuko was still confused and he was now upset, but he'd press that evil little voice from his head and listen to the good one, the right one. Or, at least he'd try.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: ********BEWARE!** THIS WILL BE RATED **********"M"** FOR MATURE!

* * *

"**It's** pricey, but I really do like it." Sokka drug out his words as he examined the expensive bag in front of him.

"Then you should get it, you deserve something nice." Katara assured, placing a hand gently onto her brothers shoulder.

"I do, don't I?" He asked, leaning in to take a closer look at the bag. "Plus, I never did get that bag I wanted from when we were in that sea port village... but, it's just so expensive." He breathed out, placing his hands on his hips as he tried to determine whether or not he wanted it that bad.

Zuko groaned and rolled his eyes in annoyance. He hated shopping and between Sokka and Iroh, they had stopped at nearly every store in the market of Gaoling whether they had intended on buying something or not. He wasn't feeling well and was very irritable. He was exhausted, despite it being rather early in the day, and his mouth was incredibly dry. All he wanted to do was lay on a nice, big, plush mattress with a nice, big picture of water next to him. Not stand here and swoon over a bunch of useless junk they didn't even need or plan to buy. They had enough bags to carry all their belongs perfectly, why buy another? But whatever.

"Here," He mumbled, digging out a gold piece from his pocket.

Sokka gasped and stared wide-eyed at the coin Zuko held out to him in the palm of his hand. "You've had gold pieces!" He asked, pointing to the firebender in front of him. "All this time!"

"Just get the stupid bag so we can get out of here!" He growled out, tossing the coin up into the air for the Water Tribe boy to catch as he turned away, making his way into the street beside his uncle.

"Pst, pst, hey, old man." A random, man asked, tapping Iroh on the shoulder to get his attention. "You like earthbending?" He asked, leaning over towards Iroh and Zuko to show them a pair of fliers he held in his hand.

"Well, sure." Iroh stated, smiling, interested in what the man was going to offer him.

"Uncle," Zuko scolded slowly. This was probably just going to be some scam the man was trying to pull in order to get some easy money.

"Check out Master Yu's Earthbending Academy." Iroh smiled and plucked the pieces of paper from the man's hand, examining the information they held. The man smiled and turned, leaving the group alone.

"We're not earthbenders," Zuko growled, annoyed by how many people were constantly bumping into him in the busy market streets.

"No, but the Avatar is." Iroh smiled, holding a flier out to the young monk. "There's a coupon on the back, the first lesson is free."

"This could be the teacher Aang's been looking for, Zuko." Katara suggested.

Zuko groaned, he was annoyed and irritated, but he of course went with them as they went to go check out this 'Master Yu's Earthbending Academy'.

!

"Yeah," Aang sighed as he walked out of the front gate of the school. "That's not the guy." He said, tilting his head in attempt to remove the sand that had gotten stuck inside his ears, before turning as he listened in on a conversation between two boys he had seen in the previous training session. They spoke of something called an 'Earth Rumble' and apparently it was the sixth one, with some of the best earthbenders in the world attending. A perfect place to look for someone who waits and listens to the earth before striking.

"Excuse me!" Aang called after the two boys, asking where the tournament was going to be held, only to be shot down with a sour joke.

"It's on the island of none ya, none ya business!" One of them teased before turning and walking away, his friend following not far behind with a large smirk on his face.

"Oh, I gotta remember that one!" Sokka exclaimed through his laughter, having thought the word play was rather funny, even if it had been used against Aang. As Katara assured the young monk that she would handle it for him and ran after the boys, Zuko turned towards Sokka, figuring he'd try to get on better terms with his girlfriend's brother by taking a shot at amusing him with a couple of jokes he had managed to remember from a couple of old Fire Nation friends he had in school. The annoyed firebender could use a good laugh himself as well, honestly.

"Sokka," Zuko piped up, getting his attention. "What do you call a cow hippo that only has two legs?"

Sokka composed himself, furrowing his brow and crossing his arms over his chest as he looked over to the young firebender questioningly. "I dunno," He shrugged. "What?" He asked dully, unimpressed with Zuko.

"Lean beef."

"Ha!" The warrior threw his head back and laughed. Zuko allowed the corners of his lips to curl upwards a tiny bit. 'Lighten up', his uncles voice rang in his ears.

"What do you call a cow hippo with no legs?"

"I dunno," Sokka admitted through his laughter, "Tell me." He snickered, ready to hear Zuko's answer.

"Ground beef." As Zuko smirked fully, watching as Sokka kneeled over laughing, Aang narrowed his eyes.

Sure it was funny, but with his strong love for animals, he didn't find it just as amusing as Sokka had. Zuko seemed to noticed this and thought of another joke he was sure everyone except Sokka would find funny.

"Sokka," He called, trying to get him to stop laughing for a second. Sokka looked up to the firebender and tried to hold back his laughter as he waited for the next joke. "Someone told me you looked like an owl." Knowing the joke and knowing how Sokka would react to it, Aang let out a snort before covering his mouth in attempt to hide his laughter. Sokka furrowed his brow and stood up straight, tilting his head at the young firebender before him.

"Who?" He asked seriously, not realizing the trap Zuko had set up for him. He caught the sound of a snicker behind him and turned towards Aang. "Who said that?" The monk pressed his hand harder up against his mouth, desperately trying not to let Sokka see him laugh. Sokka turned back around, hearing a small chuckle escaping from Iroh. "What? I don't get it." Sokka paused, shifting his weight onto one leg as he ran a hand over his mouth, wondering who Zuko would have heard that from.

Katara came running back towards them, happy she had managed to get the information she needed from the two jerks who had teased Aang. Her smile quickly faded, noticed both Iroh and Aang holding back laughter, Zuko smirking as Sokka stood still, obviously deep in thought, a confusing situation to walk into. "What's going on?" She asked, looking up towards Zuko.

"Zuko told me that someone said I looked like an owl," Sokka informed, turning towards his sister, only to see her bite her lip in attempt to hold back a laugh. Still not getting it, he became frustrated and leaned in towards his sister as he pointed towards her. "Who said that? Was it you?" Katara covered her mouth and shook her head. "Who!" Her brother cried out, strangling the air. "Who said that!"

"Don't worry about it, Sokka. Come on," She said, turning as she motioned for them to follow her. "We're going to Earth Rumble Six."

!

"Ugh," Zuko scoffed and rolled his eyes after watching Xin Fu lift himself up on a pillar of earth only to lower himself back down again. "What was the point of that?" He could already tell this wasn't going to be enjoyable.

After walking around aimlessly until the Earth Rumble, he was now completely and utterly annoyed, his head absolutely throbbing in pain. He was angry with everyone and then he'd turn around and get angry at himself for being so mad at everyone else for what seemed to be no reason. He hated becoming trapped in vicious cycles like this, and that just made him even more mad.

"Round one, The Boulder vs. The Big, Bad Hippo!" Xin Fu yelled out to the crowed.

"Eh," Katara wrinkled her nose at the sight of The Boulder. "You can work out all you want, Zuko," She started, realizing that he had been doing a lot of body exercises every chance he got to gain the muscle he had lost, and to make up for not being able to practice firebending out in the open. "But please don't get all gaudy like him." Zuko raised his brow at her.

They had fallen into their relationship due to their mental need of companionship from when they were prisoners. He hadn't even thought about their appearances. Apparently, Katara wasn't attracted to guys with ridiculously large muscles. He'd keep that in mind to keep her happy, but he would continue exercising for muscle until he felt secure again, and after being thrown around like a rag-doll and being man handled in the way he had, he was sure it'd be a while until he was satisfied with his amount of brute strength.

He took his attention from her and returned it to the fight in front of him. He watched as The Boulder nearly fell out of the ring, but earthbended himself a slab of rock to catch himself, then use the same slab against The Hippo, throwing it towards his back.

Katara sighed and turned, messing with her nails in a bored manor. "This is just going to be a bunch of guys throwing rocks at each other, isn't it?"

"That's what I paid for!" Sokka exclaimed, thrilled by the match.

"Great," Zuko huffed, rolling his eyes. His uncle had gotten lucky, he had managed to escape the teens, insisting that he'd be far more comfortable just taking a seat somewhere, having a nice, calming cup of tea. He should have gone with him, he didn't find these types of things to be very entertaining, even watching Agni Kai's in the Fire Nation hadn't been amusing for him. This was just making him even more annoyed than he already was.

Zuko shifted and slouched, resting his cheek upon his fist as he used his other hand to toy with Katara's hair, completely uninterested in the earthbenders in the ring. His uncle's voice rang out in his mind, telling him that he should be watching carefully, looking for new styles of fighting to use against unsuspecting enemies.

His main enemy was now Azula, a firebender. If he were to ever have to fight her, she'd know he was a firebender and would expect him to fight in such a way and easily out-do him as she always had. But if he fought in a different style, he'd catch her off guard and finally, for once in his life have an upper hand against her.

So he turned towards the ring, dropping his hand from Katara's hair to put all focus on carefully watching the earthbenders fight.

He watched as the champion, a young girl going by the stage name 'The Blind Bandit' taunted Aang, asking the crowd if they really wanted to watch two little girls fight. Wait, Aang? Zuko perked up, stretching his neck to get a better look, making sure it was really him. When had he gotten down there? What was he doing?

"What is he doing?" He asked to no one in particular, but knew Katara would answer him, Sokka being totally engulfed in the excitement of the match.

"Weren't you paying attention, Zuko? She waits and listens, Aang thinks she's the one who's supposed to teach him earthbending."

"So he's fighting her?"

"To try and see if he can talk to her." Zuko hummed and watched as Aang sent a strong gust of wind towards a hunk of rock the girl had sent his way, knocking the stone and the girl out of the ring. Great way to get someone to want to speak with you, much less teach you earthbending, showing her up like that, making her look like a fool in front of everyone.

'Idiot', Zuko thought.

Aang made his way back up them and informed that she hadn't spoken to him. He'd figure that tomorrow, they'd try to find out more about this girl.

!

"Come on, Zuko," Katara tugged on his arm in attempt to pull him away from the crowd as they left the arena. "It's not too late, let's go have a nice dinner together."

"No." He said, pulling his arm out of her grasp. Katara's face and shoulder's fell, an expression of hurt plastered onto her face and poured into her blue eyes.

"Why not?" She whined, giving him puppy polar-bear dog eyes as she wrapped her arms around his right one, resting her cheek onto his shoulder.

"Because I don't want to?" He scoffed and rolled his eyes, pulling away from her again as he began making his way towards the group, who were now a good set of paces in front of them, disappearing into the crowd.

She pouted and stomped, grabbing him by his upper arm before he got too far away. "Don't you want to spend time with me?" She hissed, walking fast to be able to stand in front of him, stopping him in his tracks.

"I have been! All day!" The firebender snarled and side-stepped in attempt to go around her, but of course, she stepped in front of him, stopping him again.

"What is with you?" She asked, getting on her tip-toes to make him focus on her, and not the Gaang up ahead. He narrowed his eyes at her and watched as she stood back down, tilting her head at him. "Time with me, just me, Zuko." She whined, taking both of his hands and lacing their fingers together.

Zuko huffed and glared down at her. He shouldn't have to be putting up with this. He wouldn't be if he had chosen to reveal himself and the Avatar to his sister. He had the chance. He didn't take it. Why didn't he take it? Now he'd have to run all over the Earth, run from the Fire Nation, hide, sleep on the dirt, wonder when his next shower would be, put up with crowds of people, put up with Aang and Sokka both being dunces. Things couldn't get much worse than this -

Actually! Another voice scolded, asking if he had really rather be on ship back home with Mai. He imagined himself telling her what he had been through and her laughing or making a cruel joke as she usually did. She had an odd way of trying to comfort people, she always had. Would really be able to bear that? Would he be able to handle that after when he was put through?

No.

He needed someone who had much more compassion and understanding for what people have gone through and their feelings. Someone like Katara, the girl who was standing right in front him. This girl understood completely what he had gone through on that ship, she had been there with him herself. Why could he not get that through his thick skull? He had made the right choice, damn it, now why didn't he feel like it?

He had let Mai go a long time ago, coming to terms with the fact that they just weren't going to work out a long time ago. But had he honestly let go of The Fire Nation?

No.

That was his country, his home, his blood. He would never be able to let it go. He wanted the throne badly. But, in a different way than before. He wanted to over throw his father and surpass him, show him up. Prove to him that he was not a fool, that he was not weak. Now, if he would just accept the way he would have to do it, it'd be fine!

If he had returned to the Fire Nation now, he'd have sit next his father's side, aiding him in defeating the rest of the Earth Kingdom. Hadn't that been what had gotten him banished in the first place? He had tried to aid his father and his people, but was rejected horribly. He had gotten into this for trying to save lives, and he'd get out of this by trying to do the same thing again.

He had made the right choice. He was doing this the right way, everything would fine, he had made the right choice.

'Get that through your head, Zuko.' Just by telling himself that he could feel a pressure pushing up against his brain. A start on another terrible headache he'd have to deal with.

"I just," He started slowly, carefully choosing his words. "Don't feel like it. I'm tired." He gave her a small, fake smile and attempted to go around her again, only to feel her pull on him.

"But I haven't seen you eat anything all day," She whined, sliding a hand up his chest to rest it gently on his shoulder.

"I'm not hungry," He shrugged. She narrowed her eyes and wrinkled her nose.

"Zuko," She hissed. "I don't care if you're hungry or not," He sighed, knowing what she was going to say. "You need to eat." As she said it he mocked her, mouthing the words as they sounded from her lips. She snarled at him and glared, letting him silently know that he was in trouble. He shrugged her off with one shoulder and side-stepped once again, walking away from her. Just as his fingers were pulling out of hers, she proposed a new idea to him. "We could find a nice place to stay alone for the night afterwords," She suggested in a sing-song voice, giving him a smirk after saying it.

"No." Katara huffed and ran her fingers through her hair, frustrated with the fact her bait hadn't caught him. She rolled her eyes at him even if he couldn't see and followed him back to their camp, where the others had already began settling down for the night.

!

The next day, they made their way back to to Academy, in search of anyone who knew more about the Blind Bandit. The two young boys they had ran into the day before were there and informed that she was a mystery, that she would just show up to fight and then she'd disappear. No one knew who she really was or where she went after a match.

Katara suspected that they had been lying, but they assured her that they weren't. Aang then realized that they were asking about the wrong person. 'The Blind Bandit' was the girls stage name, the one she fought with, a cover up to hide her true identity. He informed the two boys that in his vision he had at the Foggy Swamp was that of a girl in a fancy dress with a flying boar at her side. The boys recognized the flying boar as the symbol of the Bei Fong family, the richest people in town, possibly the whole world, according to the two boys. But apparently, they hadn't had a daughter.

"It's worth a shot!" Aang exclaimed before thanking the boys as he turned, the group following not far behind.

!

The girls father introduced himself and his family, allowing the group to call him by his first name, Lao. He motioned over to his wife, Poppy, before introducing his daughter, Toph, before asking the Avatar his and his friends names.

"Well, I'm Aang, and this Sokka, and Katara, my waterbending teacher, and uhh..." Aang drifted off, not knowing how to introduce Iroh and Zuko, unsure if they wanted people knowing they were firebenders or not.

"I'm...Lee," Zuko lied, giving Lao a big, cheesy smile."And this is my uncle...Mushi... I'm training the Avatar in, uh, swordsmanship, just in case." Iroh narrowed his eyes at his nephew.

"Yes, but Lee was named after his father, so we just call him Junior." Zuko groaned as both Katara and Sokka snickered at him.

"I see," Lao said dimly, uninterested in them. He turned back to Aang, asking how long he thought the war would last. The young Avatar smirked, and stated he'd like to have it ended by the end of the summer, but he wouldn't be able to unless he had found an earthbending teacher, he said, grinning over to the young earthbender sitting on the opposite side of the table to him. "Master Yu is the best earthbending teacher around, he's been teaching Toph ever since she was very little." Lao informed, motioning over to Yu, who sat at the end of the table, next to Poppy.

"Then she must be a great earthbender," Everyone watched as an odd series of events occurred, ending with Toph and Aang both standing, yelling at one another, asking what the other's problem was.

"Perhaps we should move to the living from dessert, then?" Poppy proposed calmly.

!

"Relax!" Toph demanded as she leaned against the open door way after she had startled Aang. "Look, I'm sorry about dinner. Let's call a truce?" She asked kindly, waiting for Aang to agree. At his silence, she turned and walked away.

Zuko snarled and rolled his eyes at Aang. "Go follow her, idiot." He growled at him through clinched teeth. "See what she wants." He said, pushing Aang towards the door way. 'Yes,' He thought. 'More time with her, less with Katara.' Zuko smirked at his working plan and wrapped an arm Katara's waist, pulling her out of her sitting position and up, close to him.

Sokka groaned and rolled his eyes. Then, he let out a cry of disgust once catching the sight of the firebender pulling his baby sister into a kiss. "You know," He started, interrupting them. "I'm still trying accept this whole... thing! You've got going on with him," He grumbled, glaring over at Zuko. "And you're not making it any easier, giving me the oogies all the time!" He exclaimed, waving his arms out by his sides.

"Oogies?" Katara asked, furrowing her brow at her brother's choice of words.

"I'm going to go find uncle," Zuko growled, releasing Katara to go search for his uncle.

"Yes," Sokka informed, crossing his arms over his chest as he shifted his weight onto one leg. "Oogies. Whenever you and him...ugh!" Sokka stuck his tongue out and wrinkled his nose, grossed out at the thought of them kissing. "Oogies all over!" He exclaimed, waving his arms around, motioning towards his own body.

Katara wrinkled her nose back at her brother and crossed her arms, shifting her weight onto one leg, mimicking him. "Shut it, Sokka. I can kiss Zuko whenever I want," She hissed, glaring up at him, before allowing a grin to spread across her face, thinking of just what to say to get under his skin. "And he can kiss me whenever he wants!" She exclaimed, smiling in triumph at the sight of pure shock and utter disgust on her big brother's face. She 'hmph'ed and turned on her heel, strutting out of the door way in search of the two firebenders.

Sokka groaned and covered his mouth as he leaned over, having trouble keeping his food down.

!

"We're being ambushed!" Toph yelled out, warning Aang as he grabbed him by the arm, leading him back towards her house. Suddenly, The Gopher tunnels around them, bringing to a halt long enough for The Hippo to drop two metal cages over them before jumping onto them, stomping on them a couple of times.

"I think you kids owe me some money." Xin Fu growled.

!

" - Rosemary should help with hair growth," Iroh informed Katara before taking a sip of tea. Her hair hair barely grown since she had cut it, while Zuko now had a full head of hair. She wanted her long hair back desperately, and turned to Iroh for advice on which kind of tea she should drink to help it grow.

"Guys!" Sokka yelled, busting into the small sitting room they were in. "Did you guys hear all that?" He asked, taking a step into the room, leaning over to them.

"What noise?" Katara asked.

"I heard loud banging from outside! Aang and that girl are out there!"

"We'd better go check it out," Zuko sighed, reluctantly pushing himself off the plush pillows he had been laying on. He finally beginning to calm down. He still didn't feel exactly right, but he'd hide it, knowing the Avatar and the earthbending girl were everyone's top priority right now.

!

"Whoever took them left this," Sokka informed, holding up a dagger that had been pierces through a small scroll. Katara read it aloud for everyone. "I can't believe it," Sokka breathed out. "I have the The Boulder's autograph!" He exclaimed, snatching the scroll from his sisters hand.

"Sokka!" Zuko scolded, walking over to him, snatching the parchment from him. "He just helped a bunch of earthbending weirdo's kidnap these people's daughter! And the Avatar! You shouldn't be fangirling over some freak's autograph!" He yelled, scorching the paper. "You should be worried about getting their daughter and the Avatar back!" Sokka whimpered as he watched the scroll burst into flames.

"Master Yu, I need you to help me get my daughter back." Lao said solemnly, turning towards the master for help.

"We're going with you." Katara informed, turning to look at them.

Zuko and Iroh frowned as they watched Poppy worry over her beloved daughter.

!

"Hit it harder!" Aang yelled to Sokka through the face bars of the metal cage he was in. They had given Xin Fu the money he wanted, but he had stated that it was just for the girl, and that he was sure the Fire Nation would pay a far better price for the Avatar. Toph went after the earthbenders while Sokka, Katara, Zuko and Iroh went to the side to try and get Aang free.

"I'm trying!" He was frustrated, had there been a simple lock one of the firebenders could have melted it off and had Aang released easily, but this had to be opened in an odd way.

Toph had managed to take out three of the earthbenders before they finally got Aang free, and she continued to take them out single handedly. She even took out three of them by simple turning them, leaving the group watching, jaw-dropped, and after taking out Xin Fu with a single strike, Sokka fainted.

They returned back their estate, and Toph apologized to her father for having to see her in such a way, but she expressed to him about how she loved to fight, how she loved being an earthbender, and how she excelled at the art. He, stated that it made him realize that he had given her far too much freedom, and had the Avatar and his friends escorted out.

Aang was bummed and disappointed as he grabbed Appa's reins, but his frown quickly turned up into a smile as he saw Toph running towards him and the group.

The Avatar asked what she was doing, and she told them that her father had changed his mind and would allow her to join them and travel the world. Aang stated that he thought she would be a great earthbender, which reminded Toph a something.

"Speaking of which," She said, "I wanna show you something."

"Okay!" Zuko busted into laughter after the young girl sent the Avatar flying up into a tree, causing him to get stuck upside down in between some branches. He figured he'd enjoy having her around greatly.

"Now we're even! I'll take my belt back, now." She smirked, holding her hand up for Sokka to hand her. Sokka sighed and removed the belt, tossing it over the side of the saddle to her, only to have it knock her in the head.

"Sokka!" Zuko scolded, "She's blind!"

"Right," He breathed. "Sorry."

* * *

**A/N: **I don't know how many of you guys have read any of 'The Promise' trilogy, but whenever Aang and Katara are being all lovey dovey in front of him, Sokka says it gives him the 'oogies', so I figured it'd do the same if he saw Katara and Zuko doing it.

I can't tell you how long I've wanted to write the part with Zuko telling Sokka jokes and him busting into a fit of laughter because of them, and what makes it even better is that they're meat related. Now, I think we all know how Sokka is about food, meat specifically. It was supposed to happen in the Western Air Temple with Hakoda present, but it fit so perfectly, I couldn't resist.

Zuko is a Taang shipper.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: ********BEWARE!** THIS WILL BE RATED **********"M"** FOR MATURE!

* * *

"**Good** morning earthbending student!" Toph greeted Aang ridiculously loud as she broke apart her earth tent, causing a bunch of rumbling, much to Katara's disapproval.

"Hey," The waterbender called softly, looking up from the sleeping Zuko next to her. "Zuko still doesn't feel well." She informed, gently wiping a hand over his sweaty forehead. He had informed that he hadn't been feeling well when they were in Gaoling, and after having a run-in with his sister and having to stay up all night, he fell even more ill due to what Katara figured was lack of rest and fuel, thanks to his terrible eating habits.

"Oh, sorry. We'll do our earthbending as quietly as we can." Toph whispered. Katara wasn't sure if she was being sarcastic or not and furrowed her brow at the girl as she rung out a rag to place on Zuko's forehead in attempt to cool him down out of his fever.

"Oh!" Sokka grumbled, sitting up inside his sleeping bag. "So because little Zuzu over there is still sleeping you're gunna be quiet!" He growled, continuing to mumble a jumble of words after completing his sentence, annoyed that they hadn't been quiet for him.

"Sorry, Sokka." Aang apologized, he had already woken Sokka up, telling him about how exited he was to being his earthbending training.

As her brother began to hop away, still inside his sleeping bag, Katara called after him, scolding, "Sokka, you know it's not like him to sleep in!" Sokka grumbled an angry, incoherent reply and continued to hop away from the group, far from any noise they were going to be making.

"So," Aang began, turning towards Toph. "What move are you gunna teach me first!" He asked, going on a ramble of different earthbending moves he was exited to learn as he did the motions he thought fit each of them.

"Lets!" She interrupted, holding an arm out in front of the young monk, putting a halt on his words and movements. "Just start with a basic stance." She said, moving into a strong, rooted stance that Aang easily recognized.

"Okay!" He exclaimed, but before mimicking the earthbender, he turned and looked over to Katara, asking her if she'd be watching him learn earthbending throughout the day.

"No," She shook her head, "I'm gunna stay here with Zuko."

Aang's shoulder's and smile dropped, but he turned back towards Toph and took a stance. "This is like the one Iroh taught me." He informed, smiling with the fact he had remembered his teachings from a couple months ago.

"That's great," Toph growled, unimpressed. "Now how about you do it correctly so you don't make him look like a fool." She said, pushing him over easily. She knew Iroh was a master in his element and would have never allowed Aang to get away with taking a stance so weak, the Avatar had been just being lazy. "Earth is a stubborn element, if you're going to move a rock, you've got be like a rock." She instructed Aang on how to do the movement, and showed him an example of the move by doing it herself, pushing a rock into the canyon wall a good ways away from her.

Aang nodded and attempted himself, but instead of moving the rock forwards, he sent himself flying backwards, the boulder not being moved an inch. He had tossed himself all the way back over to Appa, tripping backwards over Zuko's sleeping body, literally kicking him from his slumber.

"Aang!" Katara scolded as she helped him back up onto his feet.

"Sorry!" He avoided her and Zuko's glare as he tiptoed over the firebender. Zuko grumbled and pulled Katara down next to him, wrapping his arms around her as he snuggled closer to her, mumbling obscenities under his breath against the young monk.

Aang sighed and rubbed the back of his head as he made his way back over to his earthbending instructor. "I did exactly what you did," He breathed out, feeling kind of defeated all ready. "Maybe if I came at the rock at a different angle, or-" He tried, moving around the rock to examine it.

"No!" Toph exclaimed, stopping him in his tracks. "You can't keep thinking like an airbender. If you're going to be an earthbender, you have to think like one. There's no going around it, no different angles, no trick. You have to do this head on!" She yelled out as jumped up, literally facing the rock head on, using her skull to break the boulder into smaller pieces. Aang flinched back, and reluctantly went with Toph as she collected more rocks for him to try to move.

!

"How is he doing?" Iroh asked softly, handing Katara and small cup at tea as he sat next next to his sleeping nephew. Katara pried herself from Zuko's grip and sat up, taking a small sip of the tea Iroh had prepared for her.

"He's okay, I guess." She shrugged, unsure as to how he gotten sick. If he had picked up something in Gaoling, they were sure to all be sick as well, but they weren't. Sokka was the only one still sleeping in, but that's what he had always done. It wasn't like Zuko to sleep past sun rise.

Iroh raised his brow and took a sip of his tea before asking Katara if she knew why Zuko had fallen ill in such a way. She shook her head. Iroh sighed and looked down. "He's been confused about the choices he's been making recently. He's been on the offensive side for years, chasing after the Avatar, on the Fire Nation's obvious side. Now, not only is he in hiding, but he's with the Avatar, on the Avatars side. When we ran into Azula, Mai could have easily of given us away. His mindset had been carved in stone, go after the Avatar, get in him, return home. That had been the plan, but things are changing, he's changing. This won't be a pleasant experience for him."

Katara frowned as she looked down to the young firebender in front of her. It was obvious he was dreaming, the way his eyes were moving underneath the lids, the twitching of his muscles and the mumbling escaping from his lips. She wondered just what he was dreaming about, it didn't seem to be a good one. Poor Zuko, not only were his dreams a nightmare, but his life seemed to be as well. He just couldn't catch a break.

"Is there anything I can do for him?" She asked softly, obviously concerned for him.

"Be there for him. Assure that he's made the right choice, because he has." Katara nodded and ran her fingers through Zuko's hair, smiling when she saw his muscles ease up.

She didn't want to wake him, he needed to rest, but she wanted him awake, in a state to where he would be able to tell her how he was feeling and thinking. She didn't want to have to keep guessing, she wanted to know so she could help. But, if gently caressing him every so often to let him know she was there would help ease him through his nightmares, it's what she'd do.

Katara sighed and placed her unfinished tea down to the side, laying back down next to Zuko, snuggling close to him. She was happy to feel him take her back into his arms, but she wondered if he thought she was Mai. She huffed and pressed the thought from her mind, hearing Toph yelling at Aang to keep his knee's high from out in the distance.

She lay there with him for hours, feeling the rumbles in the earth from Toph's earthbending. Aang had been practicing all day. She knew he needed a break and just as she was getting up to go check up on him, Zuko finally began to wake from his sleep.

He groaned, rubbing his temple. He sighed and looked up, noticing Katara sitting in front of him. He lightly smiled and sat up, leaning over to catch her in his arms. "Katara," He sighed out her name as he tightened his arms around her into a bear hug until she squeaked.

"Hey, Zuko." She breathed, happy to see that he was happy to see her.

"Here, nephew," Iroh called out from behind him, holding out a cup of tea. "Have some tea." Zuko turned and plucked the cup from his uncle's hand, taking a small sip. "I'm glad to see you're finally awake," Iroh admitted happily, refilling up his own cup. "How are you feeling?" They watched as Zuko sighed, looking down into the tea. "Would you like to do some firebending exercises to try and clear your mind?" He asked, knowing Zuko had been longing to restart his firebending training. Now that Azula was after them, Iroh had been wanting to show Zuko a few knew moves to use against her and her skill in lightening.

Zuko nodded before taking another sip of tea. "Now that Azula is present, I think it's time you learned more about lightening." Iroh paused and watched as Zuko looked up at him, interested to hear more."It's pure, and is not fueled by emotion as other firebending is. It's precise and deadly, just like your sister. To generate lightening, you need peace of mind." Iroh paused one again and watched silently as Zuko sighed, knowing he was in no mental state to actually have his try at generating lightening as of right now.

He saw him shrug before taking another sip of tea, at least he would be able to learn more about it. The retired general smiled at his nephew's actions, in the past he would have gotten frustrated and insist on trying anyways. This change was going through was already proving to be a good one.

Iroh stood and took a few good paces away from the couple as he explained about the energy around them.

He told them about the positive and negative energy and how only a few firebenders could separate the energies. Iroh spoke about how by separating them, you create an imbalance while the energies want to restore, then come crashing back to each other while the bender offers guidance, creating lightening. He stood and demonstrated, sending a bolt away from them. "Once you separate the energy, you do not command it. You're only it's guide." Iroh turned around to face towards his nephew and Katara. "I don't think you will be able to do this for quite some time, Zuko." He said solemnly. Zuko nodded slowly, knowing his uncle knew that he was still not completely confident in his recent choices. He was still in the middle of a battle inside his mind, though it was now obvious which side was winning, but still no place to have a go at lightening.

"I've got an idea," Iroh admitted, smiling. "I'll teach you move that even Azula doesn't know, because I made it up myself!" He exclaimed, pointing proudly to himself. "But first, I'm going to show you something else." Iroh plucked a stick from the small pile they had collected for a fire and began to draw symbols in sand in front of the two young benders. He explained to them about each element, and the people of that element.

Katara smiled and nudged Zuko as his uncle spoke about the people of the water tribe and how they adapted easily and had a strong sense of community and love that holds them together through anything. She took his hand in hers, lacing their fingers together, silently letting him know that she would be there for him in his time of need.

Iroh smiled at the two and told them about how you needed to learn from and understand the other elements, and that this understanding is what makes the Avatar so powerful, but could also make them powerful as well.

"I learned this move from studying the waterbenders." Iroh informed, smiling at Katara as she smiled back up at him, thrilled and flattered that he had taken the time out of his life to learn something from her element. She smiled and stood, telling them about a pond they could go to that wasn't far.

The firebenders nodded and followed her. She made her way into the water, them following not far behind. Iroh took the stance and she mimicked, smiling, knowing exactly what he was about to do. She seeped up a nice blob of water and pushed the water towards him. Iroh moved in the motion so perfectly, as she pushed and pulled the water back and forth, it looked as though he was waterbending with her.

He explained about how waterbenders worked with the flow of energy, turning their defense into their offense, turning their attackers own energy against them. Iroh fell out of the movement as he told Zuko about how he had figured out how to do this with lightening.

"You can teach me how to redirect lightening?" Iroh nodded and showed him the movement, but told him to practice with Katara first.

Katara smiled and pulled up new blob of water to use with Zuko. "Push and pull the water," She informed. Zuko snickered, it sounded as if she was trying to teach a firebender how to waterbend. She narrowed her eyes at him, "Pull," She said softly as she pulled the water away from him, "and push!" She said, sending the water towards him, drenching his what was dry torso with water. He groaned and splashed the water back at her, causing them both to laugh. "Okay, okay." She said, holding her hands up. "Seriously now." She smiled and went back into the movement with him, telling him which way to move in order to get the motion right. Iroh watched from the edge of the pond, heating his hands to dry his pants legs while they practiced the movement together.

"Katara," Aang called softly in a voice of defeat, obviously exhausted from his earthbending training. "Can I-" He paused as he looked up from the ground, catching her in the water with Zuko. "You're waterbending?" He breathed, "With Zuko!" He yelled, clinching his fists together. "I've been slaving away all day trying to learn earthbending and I come here to try and catch a break and you're waterbending with Zuko! He can't even waterbend!" He huffed, glaring at her as he motioned towards the firebender in the water.

Katara furrowed her brow and dropped the water, angry. She placed her hands on her hips and shifted her weight onto one leg. "Iroh is trying to teach Zuko how redirect lightening. He learned how from watching waterbenders! I'm just trying to help him out!"

"Do you know what Toph's been making me do all day! She tried to have a huge boulder roll over me!"

"Aang, it's fine. Just keep trying, I'm sure you'll get it soon." She growled, turning back towards Zuko. She ignored Aang, hearing him let out a growl in frustration as he kicked at the dirt in front of him.

She continued moving with Zuko for a little bit longer before the guilt started to creep up on her. "Maybe I should go talk to him," She sighed, dropping the water. Zuko nodded and made his way out of the water with her, stopping in front of his uncle.

Iroh stood and began teaching Zuko the redirection movement as Katara made her way back to camp.

As Zuko joined him in the movement, Iroh asked how he had been feeling about the recent choices he had made, and expressed to Zuko that he had been worried for him.

Zuko huffed and slumped out of the movement. "I just..." He paused, trying to think of how to put his feelings into words. He began doing the movement again, feeling the energy flow throughout his body. "Need time to let everything sink in, you know?"

"Yes, I know. But are you happy, nephew?"

Zuko took a long pause, honestly thinking about it. He wouldn't say he was exactly 'happy', but he wasn't unahppy, either. He was more content than anything. He still had his worries and his doubts, but between the Avatar and the water tribe boy, there was plenty of light-hearted, happy moments, and that earthbending girl was tough, but had a great sense of humor. Not to mention, he got to wake up next to a beautiful girl he was sure he loved every morning.

"I suppose I'm getting there," He breathed out, feeling as though a heavy weight had just been lifted off his shoulders, finally admitting to himself that he had been holding on to things, and was now finally letting them go. "I just need to clear out some things; get used to things." Iroh nodded, a genuine, happy smile on his face.

Finally, Zuko was letting go of anger and hurt he had been harboring for years. Iroh could swear that he could literally see the bricks from the wall he had put up around himself falling down one by one, shattering into pieces. Finally, he was allowing happiness and love seep in. He was finally accepting other peoples love. He was finally realizing that just because he wasn't high on his father's priority list, didn't mean he couldn't be on others. Just because Ozai didn't show him that he had cared for him or had loved him, doesn't mean that others can't or won't.

Iroh let out a big sigh of relief. Ozai was finally losing control over his son.

He looked over into the direction Katara had walked off in and gave her a silent 'thank you'.

!

Katara looked around the camp and noticed just how empty it was. It was nearly dark, and Sokka hadn't been around all day. It wasn't like him, he should be back by now!

She looked around and only found Aang sitting on a rock. She didn't want to call for him after what had just happened, but she knew she had to. "Aang," She called softly, feeling the tension in the air rise immediately after he realized it was her.

"Meditating here!" He growled out, trying his best to ignore her. She rolled her eyes, but spoke in a nice voice as he told him about how she hadn't seen Sokka all day. Aang huffed and twisted around to face her.

"I'm sure you haven't," He spat, "You've been too busy looking after Zuko all day!" He growled, turning back around in attempt to begin meditating again.

Katara sighed and walked around the rock to be able to face the young, angry monk. "It's nearly dark. He wasn't at camp, he should be back now, Aang. I'm really worried about him." Aang opened his eyes and noticed the look of honest concern on her face and in her eyes. He huffed and stood.

"We'll find him faster if we split up." He said, taking off into his own direction as she turned into her own.

!

"Aang!" Sokka cried out at catching sight of him. He nearly ran right past him. Somehow, Sokka had managed to get himself wedged into the earth and had been there all day. "Thank goodness! Have you got any meat? Get me outta here, will ya?" He asked, pawing at the space in front of him, reaching out for Aang.

Aang tried pulling him out, but was unable to. He wouldn't budge. Aang sighed and scratched his head, "Maybe I could air bend you out of here." He attempted, sending a gust of wind into the cracks around Sokka. The warrior sighed at the second failed attempt and pointed out that he needed some earthbending to be able to be freed from the split in the ground.

Sokka watched carefully as Aang sighed and turned away from him, sadly telling him that he didn't know how to earthbend.

"I feel like I'm caught between a rock and hard place," Aang sighed sadly as he took a seat next to his friend, explaining to Sokka about he wasn't comfortable with coming to Toph for help and how he was in awkward position, everyone expected him to get earthbending so quickly.

"How 'bout that..." Sokka noticed a small animal with brown fur walking towards them. He recognized this animal and motioned towards him. "Aang, this is my friend, Foofoo Cuddlypoops, Foofoo Cuddlypoops, Aang." He introduced the monk to a baby saber-tooth moose lion, only he hadn't realized that Foofoo was of that species, and told Aang that he looked nothing like one.

Aang picked up the cub and told Sokka that it was hard tell before their giant teeth and horns grew in. He smiled and examined the baby.

Both Sokka and Aang shook at the sound of a loud growl behind him. Sokka hissed and tensed up as he saw the mother moose-lion begin to shake her horns at the two, she was about to charge!

"Aang!" Sokka cried, "You gotta get me out of here!"

As the moose-lion began to come at them, Sokka let out a cry and shrunk down as Aang airbent the giant beast up and over him, one of her claws barely missing his head. Sokka watched full in fear as she recovered from the attack and turned back around to face the.

"Aang, you have to earthbend me out!" He cried, writhing around, desperately trying to free himself. He stopped once he heard Aang let out a huff and try a couple of earthbending moves, all ending up being unsuccessful.

Aang airbent himself up onto one the rocks a little ways away from the trapped warrior and called out to the angry, protective mother as he did a dance to try and distract her away from his friend. She barely even glanced towards the monk before charging towards Sokka.

Aang immediately jumped from his rock and stood in front of Sokka, sending a gust of around them, causing the beast to end up behind Sokka once again.

"Please, don't leave me again."

"I wont," Aang promised as he watched the moose-lion charge towards them once again. He waited until she got to the perfect position for him to send a giant gust of wind towards her, sending her backwards in defeat. She shook it off and made her way back in to the bush.

As the dust around them cleared, Aang caught the sound of someone clapping not too far away. He looked to his side and saw no one but Toph, perched up onto a rock, sitting casually.

"Good work, twinkletoes." She praised. Aang furrowed his brow and snarled.

"You've been there the whole time! Sokka was in trouble, I was in trouble! Why didn't you do something!" He yelled, stomping over to her as she threw a single nut down in front of her. She had been using his staff to break them open and to purposely annoy him.

"Guess it just didn't occur to me," She said, taking his staff and swinging it over her shoulder, but while it was slicing through the air, Aang caught it before it could come anywhere near the nut.

"Enough!" He yelled, taking his staff from Toph's grasp.

"Do it, now!" She yelled at him, hopping from the rock she had been sitting on, landing firmly on her feet in front of him.

"What!" He spat back at her, leaning towards her.

"Earthbend! You just stood your ground against a crazy beast! And what's more impressive, you've just stood your ground against me!" She said, pointing towards herself. "You've got what it takes, now earthbend!"

"But-"

"Do it!" Aang furrowed his brow and twisted, doing the move Toph had taught him first. Much to his surprise, the rock he had wanted to move, moved. He had been able to send it gliding across the ground until smashed into one of the rock walls that surrounded the area they were in. "You did it!" Toph exclaimed, honestly happy for him and proud of her own teachings. "You're an earthbender."

"You know, this is really a wonderful moment, but you see," Sokka began slowly, "I'm still stuck in here!" He yelled, squirming around as much as he could.

"I'll get you out!" Aang offered, running towards him, only to be stopped by Toph. She told him that he was still too new at earthbending, and he'd probably end up crushing Sokka.

"Yeah, no crushing, please." Sokka agreed, nodding. Toph did a single, simple movement that lifted Sokka out of the split he had been stuck in. She grabbed him by the top of his head and pulled him out the rest of the way before turning to make her way back to their camp.

!

"You found him!" Katara exclaimed as she ran towards them, her arms already extended, tackling her brother into a hug.

"All that time I was in that hole, not knowing how I'd end up, it really makes a guy-"

"Hey, Katara!" Aang called, interrupting Sokka mid-sentence. "Look what I can do!" He moved, and pushed a rock off another one, showing her that he could now successfully earthbend.

"I told you you'd get it!" She called out to him, happy for him.

"What's going on?" Zuko asked, walking up the group just as Aang was explaining to Appa what the key to earthbending was.

"Aang finally learned how to earthbend!" Katara answered, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"That's great." He said softly, putting his arms around her waist as he watched the sky bison lick Aang, causing him to fall out of his stance.

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**A/N: **Please leave a review and tell me what you think! :]


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: ************BEWARE!** THIS WILL BE RATED **********"M"** FOR MATURE!

* * *

"**The **darkest day in Fire Nation history... it's got a date at the top, but it doesn't say anything else." Sokka placed a hand on his chin, examining the parchment before him as he furrowed his brows in thought. "Zuko, does this ring a bell about anything?" He asked, looking over his shoulder to the Fire Prince behind him.

They were all in the middle of a much needed break. It had been Aang's idea to let everyone choose their own mini vacation, and after hearing about a great library filled with rare articles and information about any and everything, Sokka knew exactly where it was that he wanted to go. This was a perfect opportunity to learn more about the Fire Nation and perhaps find a much needed, up to date map that even the Fire Nation citizens themselves lacked, after losing nearly everything in the ship explosion months ago.

They had to fly off into the desert, bringing a professor from Ba Sing Se University with them. The professor himself had made many trips into the desert in search of the library alone, all ending up being unsuccessful. With the help of Appa, they had managed to find it within a matter of hours of flying around.

The majority of the grand library had been buried into the sand, only a single tower was still above ground. While the group of five explored the library, Toph and Iroh stayed behind along side Appa.

"Mm," Zuko hummed, racking his brain of any ideas on what could have happened on that day. "It sounds like something I would have learned about in history class, but I wasn't exactly what you would call an 'honor student'." He admitted shamelessly, shrugging as he did so. Sokka narrowed his eyes and groaned at him with slight annoyance.

"Wow, Zuko, you sure have turned out to be a great big help, you know that?" Sokka teased sarcastically as he carefully slipped the parchment from underneath it's glass cover. He turned, and began to make his way through the isles of books.

"Where are you going?" Zuko called after him, taking long strides to catch up with him. Sokka paused and turned around to face him.

"I wanna know what happened to the Fire Nation on it's darkest day, and since you were too busy lollygagging around in class all day to know, I'm going to where the information on the Fire Nation should be held." He growled, turning back down the isles of the library.

Zuko huffed and rolled his eyes, starting after him. "Well, excuse me for being uninterested in the propaganda they shove into the children's mind in the schools. We could ask Uncle, he probably knows." Sokka groaned and waved Zuko off over his shoulder as he continued making his way through the halls.

"Information on the Fire Nation should be right up here," The warrior stated, cautiously making his way into the room, slowly looking around at the piles of burnt wood and ash. "Are you kidding me!" He cried out, scooping up a handful of ash, letting it fall through his fingers. "Every time! Every time I think I'm a step ahead of the Fire Nation, they're already two steps ahead of me!" He growled out, throwing down the rest of the ash back into the pile of rubble.

Zuko groaned and rolled his eyes and turned around back towards the door at the sound of footsteps behind him. Aang, Katara, and Professor Zei slowly made their way into their room, sadly looking around at the piles of rubble in the room. Zuko leaned and looked between them, noticing one of the Knowledge Seekers standing in the door way.

"I need to know what happened on that day!" Sokka cried out, clinching his fist as he glared down at the all the ash, anger radiating off him already.

"Uh, Sokka," Zuko called, pointing towards the Seeker. The Water Tribe boy turned and looked, raising his brow at the spirit. It whined and turned around, pointing off in a direction.

"Seems as though it's trying to assist you." Zei suggested, motioning towards the creature. Sokka groaned, but followed anyways, the rest of the group following not too far behind.

It ran them through many different aisles and halls, leading them to a large, majestic looking golden door. They stopped in front of it as the fox-like spirit slipped through a small hole in the wall beside the door. Seconds after, the circular door began to turn open before them, the fox sitting down inside the room.

They made their way into the room, watching as the Seeker pressed down on a lever beside a circular table. The group gasped and looked up. The dome ceiling moved, showing the stars and moon move throughout the night.

"It's a planetarium that shows the heavens moving!" Professor Zei breathed out in complete awe of the beauty before him, greatly impressed with what the spirit had brought them to.

"Okay, this is beautiful," Sokka said dully, totally missing the point as to why the Seeker had brought them to this room. "But how does the help us?" He asked.

"Maybe these dials represent dates and times," Katara suggested as she examined the table before her. "Try entering the date from the parchment you took." She said, pointing towards her brother's bag. Sokka hissed and leaned over to her, covering his mouth from the Seeker with his hand.

"Shh!" He scolded, whispering in her ear. "Not in front of the fox! He's with the owl!" He growled through clinched teeth before slowly taking a peak at the date from the document he had hidden away in his bag.

He turned the dials to the correct date and pulled the lever, unsure of what to think about as the mechanisms on the ceiling began to move around.

Aang watched as it stopped suddenly, the moon in front of the sun. "Great," Aang said as he narrowed his eyes. "You broke it."

"It's not broken!" Sokka breathed out as he took a step forwards to stand beside the monk. He carefully examined the sight before him, pointing out that the sun was behind the moon. "It's a Solar Eclipse! Now I get it!" He exclaimed, turning to face Aang as he took his shoulders into his hands, shaking him around as he spoke. "It's the Darkest Day in Fire Nation history because firebenders lose their ability to firebend during a Solar Eclipse! I don't know what happened on that day, but they were powerless against attack!"

Zuko hissed and looked down to his hands, cringing at the thought of not being able to have the option to bend in order to defend himself, of course he was skilled with swords, but they could easily be broken or lost, like the ones from his ship had been. His firebending was something he would always have.

"We've got to tell the Earth King this information! We can wait for the next eclipse and use it against the Fire Nation. They won't be able to do anything about it! The Fire Lord is going down!" Sokka exclaimed, thrilled with the information he had managed to get from the library.

His excitement was short lived, though, as a shadow loomed over him. He gasped and turned around, seeing Wan Shi Tong standing before him.

"You mortals are so predictable," He stated calmly, peering down at the warrior in front of him. "And such terrible liars. You have betrayed my trust! You have just wanted to use the knowledge for evil purposes!" He took a deadly step towards Sokka, leaning over towards him a bit.

"The Fire Nation is evil! You saw what they did to your library!" Sokka cried out, desperately trying to reckon with the angry spirit before him. "We need this information to stop the war!"

"Countless others have abused my library, seeking out weapons, battle strategies, weaknesses to use against their enemies!"

"Please!" Aang piped up. "We're just trying to protect the people we love!"

"And now," Wan Shi Tong started slowly and dangerously, glaring down the group in front of him. "I'm going to protect what I love." The owl spirit stretched out his wings. "I'm taking my knowledge back! No one shall ever abuse it again!"

!

"Uh, Toph," Iroh piped up, noticing the tower begin to slip down into the sand.

"Yeah?" She asked, oblivious to what was happening. The sand left her nearly unable to see with her feet properly. It shifted around too much, causing everything to look fuzzy and blurred.

"The library is sinking!" Toph gasped as this information and stood up, taking a long stride towards the tower, slamming her fists into the stone in attempt to stop it. It paused for a moment, but still continued to sink slowly. She released her grip on the tower for a split second in order to bend the sand into a slab of stone, giving herself a secure area to stand on.

Appa let out a loud moan and Iroh turned to see what the problem was now. He let out a small gasp at the sight of three boats of sandbenders making their way towards them.

"What is it now!" Toph whined out, she couldn't really make what was going on behind her, and she knew she couldn't let go of the sinking building and allow her friends to perish inside.

Iroh shifted into a stance as the group of men hopped off their sand-sailers, twirling bags of sand on rope over their heads and by their sides. One group singled out Appa as the other two advanced towards the firebender.

Iroh narrowed his eyes and easily dodged an attack, grabbing the robe and searing the binds in his palm. The sandbender let out a gasp at the sight of his torn rope, but quickly picked up a spare bag, sending it towards Iroh once again, catching the rope around his arm.

The seasoned firebender kept to his ability to himself as long as he could, using hand to hand combat as much as he could, pulling on the rope around his arm, sending the man on the other end into a sand dune. He caught two bags of sand in midair as the flew towards him and pulled on them, having the guys who were still holding on crashing into each other, knocking them both out after having hitting each other so hard.

Iroh only sent a blast of fire their way after one of them bent the sand into stone around his feet. The fire had caught one of the sand-sailers masts on fire, but of course, one of the sandbenders noticed and picked up a wave of sand, snuffing out the fire before it could cause any serious damage. Iroh was trying, but he was far out numbered and being bombarded with rope, sand, and now wind from Appa.

He noticed that the other group had managed to tie the sky bison down after having a hard time with the beasts struggle, and he sent string of fire their way, scorching the ropes. A sandbender groaned out in annoyance and sent a handful amount of sand towards Iroh's face, lodging plenty of sand particles into his eyes, rendering him unable to see.

The general snarled and sent a blind blast of fire out, unknowingly nearly setting one of the bender's wrappings on fire. The sandbender let out a growl and kicked the sand with his heel, shaking the rock around Iroh's ankles, catching him off guard and causing him to fall forwards.

As Iroh caught himself by putting his arms out in front him, hands sinking down into the sand, one of the men used this to their advantage and quickly turned the sand around the firebenders hands to stone. Iroh tugged, but was unable to pull free.

The other group of sandbenders gathered more rope and tied Appa back down as Iroh began to create pressure inside the stone cuffs with his firebending. One of the men noticed and tightened to stone around his hands until the other two groups got away with Appa.

Iroh let out a growl and used his fire breath, sending a blast of fire in the direction he was sure the group that was still there was in, scorching the side of one of the boats. They hopped onto their sand-sailer, easily dodging the line of fire, one of them spitting at the ground just in front of Iroh's face.

They managed to get away as Iroh returned his attention to his hands, tugging and firebending, finally causing enough pressure to crack the rock open. But, by the time he managed to break free, they were far off into the distance, not that he could see them anyways. He let out a sigh of worry and defeat and began working on the rock around his feet.

Toph bit her lip and let out a huff, guilt coming over her. "I could have done more!" She admitted, arms beginning to shake with fatigue from trying to hold up the massive sinking library for so long.

"No," Iroh said softly. "Don't you let that library sink. You're doing great." He assured, taking a swing at the stone around his ankles.

!

"He's sinking the library!" Katara pointed out. "We've got to leave!" She grabbed Zuko by the wrist and tugged, pulling him as she bolted out of the planetarium, the rest of the group and the owl not far behind.

"I'm afraid I can't allow that," Wan Shi Tong warned, taking after them. "You already know too much."

As they ran, Zuko pulled away from Katara and pushed Sokka into one of the aisles. He covered himself as a shelf of books fell over him. Wan Shi Tong had his wings stretched out, knocking over racks and racks of books as he took off after the group, passing the two boys, completely unaware that they had managed to slip out of his sight.

"What are you doing!" Sokka scolded, glaring at Zuko.

"Shh!" Zuko snarled as he leaned to the left, making sure the enraged spirit hadn't seen them slip away. "We have to figure out when the next eclipse is going to be! We have to get back to planetarium while he's still distracted from us!" Zuko grabbed Sokka by the arm and slung him out into the main aisle as he shoved pass the rubble, bolting back down through the aisles towards the planetarium room.

!

Professor Zei stopped in his tracks and turned around towards the spirit not far behind him. "Please, I beg you, do not destroy your collection of priceless tomes!" Aang quickly turned, sending a stream of air to suck Zei back over to them, away from the owl who struck down with his beak in the exact spot the man had been standing. Wan Shi Tong still pressed forwards, and Aang sent a strong gust of wing towards him, sending him over the edge of the bridge.

"We've got to get back to the surface!" Aang cried out, running down an aisle.

"Wait!" Katara cried out, stopping in her tracks. Aang paused and turned towards her. "Where's Sokka and Zuko!" She asked, frantically looking around for any sign of them.

"They're probably already waiting for us where we came in at, come on!" Aang turned and continued running as he motioned for her and Zei to follow him back the rope they had used to get in through the tower window.

Katara hesitated, but followed anyways.

!

"Are you sure this'll work?" Sokka asked as he watched Zuko turn the dials on the table.

"If it shows us past eclipses, why would it not show us future ones?" He asked, glancing at Sokka over his shoulder.

Sokka scoffed and rolled his eyes. "You can't check every date! Move it!" He said, pushing Zuko out of the way.

"You're doing the same thing I was doing!" Zuko scolded, lightly punching Sokka in the arm after seeing him begin to turn the dials.

"I'm checking every date before Sozin's Comet returns, you were just aimlessly turning the dials!" Sokka swatted at him before turning the lever once again.

"Well, don't check every single day! Go by weeks or something until the sun and moon get close enough and then do it day by day!" Zuko growled, pushing Sokka out of the way to take back control over the dials.

Sokka strangled the air in frustration, but allowed him to continue selecting the dates as he watched the sun and moon move closer and closer towards each other.

!

"Come on, Katara!" Aang yelled out, he had already made it half way up the rope while she, on the other hand, was still on the floor of the bridge.

"I'm not leaving without Zuko and Sokka!" She growled out, glaring up at him. Aang narrowed his eyes and snarled at her, annoyed by her constantly being worried about Zuko's whereabouts.

"They're probably already out there waiting for us! Come on!" He air bent at her, attempting to lift her upwards. She stepped back, swiftly dodging the suction of the air he had sent her way.

"No! They wouldn't leave us like that!" She turned and gasped, noticing Wan Shi Tong quickly advancing towards her. She took out a string of water to whip him in the face, but before she could the owl suddenly let out a loud cry of pain. He turned, and she saw feathers on his back had been set aflame.

As Zuko sent another blast of fire towards his face, Wan Shi Tong simply turned his head away from the fire, only to be knocked in the head by Sokka's boomerang that swirled in the air from the other direction. The owl had moved straight into the trap, causing the impact to be even stronger, nearly sending himself into unconsciousness right then and there.

The owl screeched and leaned down as he attempted to shake off the attack. Zuko sent a wave of fire just above his head, forcing him to choose between being scorched in the face or leaning down more. Of course, he chose to dodge the attack and put his head further down towards the floor. Zuko cupped his hands together, Sokka put one foot into his hands and sprung out of the firebenders palms after he lifted him upwards. Sokka had a large book in his hands and put all his weight down as he fell through the air, delivering a powerful blow the owl's skull as he landed on his head.

The bird swayed for second, but finally collapsed into unconsciousness, allowing the group to begin their escape together.

As Sokka was making his way up the rope, the sight of the professor in the corner of his eye caught his attention. Zei was sitting in the middle of an aisle, surrounded by piles of books he had plucked from the shelves.

"Professor!" The warrior called out. "Let's go!" He said, motioning upwards.

"I'm not leaving!" He admitted, looking up from his book. "I can't, I've spend far too long searching for this place," He paused, gazing in awe at the shelves and shelves of books around him. "I could spend an eternity in here." He admitted breathlessly.

"Welp, looks like you're going to!" Zuko growled out as he lifted himself up farther up the rope.

"Zuko!" Katara scolded, glaring down at him beneath her. He ignored her and motioned for her to continue her climbing.

They made it out of the library safe and sound, happy to finally be out of there.

"We found out when the next eclipse is!" Sokka informed his sister as he jumped up and down with glee. "It's soon! The Fire Nation is in trouble, now!" He said, taking his sister into a hug.

Zuko furrowed his brow and made his way over to Iroh. "Uncle?" He asked, sitting next to him as he placed a hand on his shoulder. He leaned forwards and noticed the sand caking his uncle's face. Zuko gently wiped away the sand before he looked down, noticing the stone around his feet. He took a hard swing to the rock, splitting it in half. He called for Katara, asking her to clean his uncles eyes the best she could.

"Oh, no." She breathed out, seeping a small blob of clean water from the air for his eyes. "What happened?" She asked softly as she held the water above her hand, having him lean his head down to have his eye inside the water, blinking a few times to try and get as much sand as he could out.

"Sandbenders ambushed us," He informed them of what had happened to him as he continued to try and flush out the sand from his eyes.

Aang looked around frantically, noticing his sky bison was missing. The monk turned slowly towards Toph, asking her where Appa was. He gasped, a terrible wave of fear and worry coming over him as she shook her head at him, unable to verbally tell him that Appa had been taken.

"How could you let them take Appa? Why didn't you do something!" Aang shouted, leaning towards Toph.

"I couldn't! The library was sinking and the sandbenders were bombarding Iroh!" Aang hissed and turned, narrowing his eyes towards Iroh. He saw Katara tending to his eyes and Zuko sitting next to him. The young firebender noticed Aang and sent the daggers right back at him, daring him to accuse his uncle of not trying to save Appa.

Aang took a step towards him anyways, asking him why he didn't do anything to stop them from taking his bison. "I did," Iroh shrugged. "But there were three gliders of them. Two of the groups singled me out and threw sand in my face, I couldn't see after that. I wasn't about to throw around a bunch of fire and risk burning your bison."

"You didn't try!" Aang yelled. "You're one of the greatest war generals in history and a master firebender! You just didn't care!" Zuko stood and stomped over to the enraged monk.

"Don't you dare speak to my uncle like that!" He warned, pushing Aang down into the sand. He growled and began to swing his staff, Katara stepping up and catching it before Aang did anything too stupid.

"Aang, stop it. You know both Iroh and Toph did all they could. Had Toph let go of the library, we'd all be stuck in there forever. If Iroh had focused more Appa, the sandbenders probably would have gotten them both."

Aang growled and stomped as he stood up to face her properly. "That's all you care about ever since you got off that pirate boat! Iroh and Zuko, Zuko and Iroh! What about us! You have no idea what Appa is probably going through right now!"

"You have no idea what Zuko and I went through on that ship!" She said, pointing towards him.

"It couldn't possibly be as bad as what Appa is going through! He's probably scared and alone! What if they're hurting him!"

Katara gasped out in disbelief. She paused, tilting her head at Aang, looking at him wide-eyed. She stomped and her face twisted in anger as she yelled at him, "Zuko and I were scared on that boat! Zuko and I were alone! They nearly beat Zuko to death three times! They couldn't possibly be making Appa do what the pirates forced Zuko and I to do!"

"What! What'd they make you do that's so terrible, Katara!" Before she could answer him, Zuko snatched Aang up by the back of his shirt collar and lifted him, twisting the fabric to have Aang face him.

"Enough," He growled lowly, warning him that he was about to cross a serious line. Aang squirmed out of his gasp and glared out into the distance.

"I'm going after Appa." Before anyone could decline or try to keep him there, he expanded the wings on his glider and took off into the desert alone. Zuko sighed and turned back towards Katara.

She standing there with her hands covering her mouth, tears welling up in her eyes. He walked over to her and took her in his arms, holding her against him.

"We need to get out of here," He said softly. She sniffled and wiped her face with her arm.

"Yeah," She breathed, standing as straight and strong as she could as she pulled away from. "I need to get cleaner water for your uncles eyes, I don't want them getting infected." Her features softened as she helped Iroh up. "How are you doing?" She asked, tending to him would keep her mind off the terrible memories and demons that Aang had woken.

His eyes were still producing tears at a rapid rate, trying desperately to get the rest of the sand out. He assured her that there just irritated and that he should be be fine soon.

"We're the only ones who know about the eclipse," Sokka said, motioning towards the desert in front of him, "We have to get that information to Ba Sing Se." The group nodded and followed as he took lead.

!

They had been walking for hours before Toph asked for some water. Katara tried her best to seep as much water as she could from the air, but the middle of the desert wasn't exactly the most humid of places.

"Sorry, Toph." She felt bad, knowing she had barely been able to bend out a mouth full of water for the young earthbender. "The only other water I have is my bending water."

Sokka hummed and looked around him, noticing a single cactus not far from where he was standing. "Not anymore!" He said, making his way over, slicing a piece with his machete before taking a big sip out of the juices that were inside.

"Sokka, no!" Zuko scolded.

"What? There's water inside!" He said, pouring a stream of water from another piece he cut off.

"Water that's full of hallucinogens!" He said, smacking the make shift cup out of the warriors hands.

"Full of whats?" He asked, tilting his head at the firebender before him. Zuko's face and shoulders fell as he watched Sokka's pupils dilate.

Zuko groaned by grabbed Sokka by the arm, tugging on him as they continued on their way through the desert.

They continued walking for hours and the sun was beginning to set before Aang swooped down from the air, rejoining the group after searching for Appa alone. Katara wanted to go comfort him, knowing how scared and worried he must be for Appa, but she was still angry at him for the way he spoke to her earlier. They would find Appa in the future, but they would never be able to change the past.

She huffed and continued moving, the rest of the group all following for a few more hours before she suggested that they should stop for the night.

She managed to slip Sokka's bag over his shoulders without disturbing him, he was too busy having hallucinations to realize what she had done. She plucked a couple scrolls from the collection and found one that had a map of the stars on it. She explained them that she'd use it guide them through the desert and towards the Earth Capitol the best she could and that they would start again after getting a couple of hours of much needed rest.

The waterbender seeped a much water from the air as she could and gave everyone their own mouthful before she settled down next to Zuko, surprised to feel that wasn't absolutely burning up. He explained to her that firebenders could control their own body heat. Naturally heating themselves up in the cold, careful as to not get too hot and melt their insides, and in hot temperatures, carefully not allowing themselves to get too cold and go into hyperthermic shock.

She huffed and rested her cheek down onto her chest. It was odd, usually she would snuggle closer to him for warmth and now she was doing it to try and cool down. She sighed and turned, using his arm to support her head.

"Do you know the stars, Zuko?" She asked softly, trying to not wake the others as she noticed him gazing intensely at the night sky.

"Kind of," He admitted quickly. "That's the Ursa Major." He murmured, pointing to the group of stars around the Big Dipper. She could easily spot this, she had been using the Northern Star to decide the way they were going to travel in. The map she had been using only had the Big Dipper drawn out, dismissing that it was apart of another constellation. "There's Draco," He said, drawing lines between the stars. "The dragon, and there's Lynx,"

She lay there with him for hours as he pointed out the constellations and their names. "Which one's your favorite?" She asked, turning her head to look at him.

He sighed and took a long pause before answering. "The Ursa Major, most definitely."

"Really?" She asked as she snuggled closer to him. "I figured it would have been the dragon."

"No," He shook his head, wrapping his arms around her. "The Ursa Major."

They rested for a few more hours, nodding off every now and then, forcing themselves to get up before it got too far into the night. Katara stood and made her way over to her brother, gently waking him up as Zuko made his way over to his uncle, asking him how his eyes were doing.

Iroh stretched and groaned as he blinked a couple of times. "Ah, much better now. Still a little uncomfortable, but much, much better now." He assured, smiling up at his concerned nephew. Zuko nodded and made his way over to Aang.

"I'm awake." He said.

Zuko narrowed his eyes and huffed. "Well then, get up." He growled, still ticked with the way he had acted earlier.

Zuko made his way over to Katara, lacing their fingers together as they began leading the group through the desert the best they could.

"Ow!" Toph let out a cry of pain as she fell forward, just catching herself before she fell face first into the sand. "I am so sick of not being able to feel where I'm going!" She yelled, rubbing her hurt foot.

"Are you okay?" Aang asked, leaning towards her.

"What idiot buries a boat in the middle of the desert!" She shouted, motioning towards the wood that stuck out from the sand.

Aang motioned for everyone to step back as he swirled the sand around them, revealing a perfectly good sand-sailer. Zuko leaned and noticed some dark patches on the wood.

"This has scorch marks on it. This is probably one of the ones from the people who attacked you, uncle." Zuko said as he climbed into the sand-sailer, pointing out the marks on the side of the boat. "This was lodged into the side of the dune. Looks like your bison is putting up a pretty good fight."

"Great," Aang snapped. "They're probably going to hurt him even more if he does that." He said as he angrily began to use his bending to power the sailer.

"They're probably going to try and sell him to someone in Ba Sing Se. No one with enough money to buy him would want him all beaten up. They'd want him in good condition, so that's how they're going to keep him. Don't worry about it, the sooner we get to Ba Sing Se, the sooner you get your bison." Zuko assured, annoyance seeping out into his words.

He had been feeling a lot better about his decision to stick on the Avatars side. Even though getting chased by an enraged demon owl spirit thing was pretty scary, the fact that he had been one of the only ones to step foot in that library and the adventure in itself was grand, exciting, and thrilling. But the Avatar's attitude wasn't helping come to terms with the choice he had made to stay by him. 'Happiness is a choice," Iroh's voice rang in his ears. 'The bad only outweighs the good if you allow it to.'

They continued pressing forward with help of the sand-sailer, coming across a giant rock in the middle of the desert that was of course, home to a hive of buzzard-wasps. They had been fighting them off greatly, but became surrounded and greatly outnumbered by the angry swarm when sudden waves of sand came up, burying the wasps in the sand below them.

"Where is my bison!" Aang progressed towards the groups of sandbenders in front of him. Toph had told him that the son had been one of the ones who aided in the theft of Appa.

"You said to put a muzzle on him!" Toph yelled as she pointed in the direction she was sure the son was standing in.

"You muzzled Appa!" Aang destroyed their final sand-sailor and pointed his staff towards the son. "Tell me where Appa is!" He demanded, his eyes and tattoos beginning to glow.

"I traded him to some merchants! He's probably in Ba Sing Se by now!"

While everyone else began to move away from Aang, Katara stood by him, gently taking him by the arm.

"We have a lead," She said softly, wrapping her arms around him. "The sooner we get to Ba Sing Se the sooner we can begin looking for him. We'll find him, Aang." The rest of the group stood by, watching as he fell out of the Avatar state and into her arms.

* * *

**A/N: **You guys have no idea how long I sat there looking at screen shots of Katara's map trying to figure out exactly which constellations it showed and which ones it didn't. It of course changed in every one of the shots, but Big Dipper (which is a part of Ursa Major), Draco, and Lynx stay pretty constant. I think it's pretty obvious as to why Zuko would choose Ursa Major over Draco any day.

Oh my gosh imagine Zuko going all Lion King: Simba's Pride while laying there with Katara.

"My father and I used to do this all the time. He says, all the great Fire Lords of the past are up there, watching over us."

Also, I imagine cacti are common in the Fire Nation and that's how Zuko knows about them.

**One more chapter and things get different!**

Don't forget to leave a review! Tell me what you think!


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: ************BEWARE!** THIS WILL BE RATED **********"M"** FOR MATURE!

* * *

"**Hey**, Zuko?" Sokka asked shyly, rubbing the back of his head as he quickened his pace to catch up to the young firebender. He hummed, letting the warrior know he was listening. "Uh, I was wondering. Could I... ask you something?"

Ever since Katara had found him in the market, he had been wanting to ask what all had happened on the pirate boat. After seeing how paranoid and edgy the two were, he decided against asking right away. But he realized just how much it both of them got upset if someone ever mentioned the pirates. Sokka knew it must of been terrible, but there was obviously something that the couple still hadn't told the rest of the group.

"Sure," Zuko shrugged. "Go for it."

Sokka hummed before letting out a huff, not knowing how to ask. He turned and glanced over his shoulder, making sure his sister and the rest of the group were still a little ways behind them. For some reason he felt more comfortable asking Zuko about it than Katara. He figured this was because he knew should get upset about it, and he hated seeing her get like that, and it didn't exactly help his still terribly guilty conscience.

He let out a sigh and decided to just 'go for it' and blurt it out. "What exactly happened on the pirate ship?" Zuko's throat hitched and he stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes widening as he his mind went completely blank.

How the hell was he supposed to answer that question? Especially to Sokka? He was Katara's brother. He was sure to be her older brother, Zuko was nearly completely sure of this. Even though he wasn't on exactly good terms with his own sister, and he was sure that she didn't even care that he was 'dead', but if he had ever been told that her innocence had been stolen from her to entertain a bunch of perverted pirates, he would be absolutely blinded with rage.

Zuko swallowed hard and forced himself to begin walking again, a single bead of sweat racing down the side of his face. This could easily be dismissed as sweat from the heat when in reality it was his nerves getting the best of him.

Sokka noticed his sudden odd behavior, but brushed it off, deeming it as him just trying to fight of the memories again. This was something both Zuko and Katara still did rather often, despite it being a few months since they had found each other in the market. They would pause, stare off into space, shake, sweat, seethe, struggle to hold back tears, but a couple words or a touch from the other would bring them back almost instantly. Their physical wounds had been healed, but their mental ones were still struggling.

"I don't know what-" Zuko began slowly, trying to figure out exactly what to say and how to say it, only to end up failing miserably. "I don't know how- I mean- You- I- She- uh..." Zuko averted his eyes, ignoring Sokka's intense stare. He ran his hand down the back of head and neck, stopping on his shoulder blade to massage his muscles.

This was far too awkward for him. Should he direct him to Katara? How would she answer him? If she even would? Was now even the time? Did she even plan to tell him? Ever?

"You can tell me," Sokka assured, leaning a bit towards him.

Zuko flinched away, a sound of struggle escaping from back in his throat. "No," He breathed out. "I don't think I can," He admitted through clinched teeth, smiling out of nervousness.

"Should I ask Katara?"

"No, I don't think that would be a good idea."

"Well, whenever the subject comes up, she says always that you both went through something terrible, it sounds like together, equally. I know it must have been terrible getting beaten and it must have been terrible to watch it, but I just feel like there's something else you guys haven't told us about." Sokka shrugged lightly, obvious concern in his voice and on his face.

"Well, I mean-"

"Hey, guys!" Aang's voice rang out from behind them. "Look it!" Sokka and Zuko both turned, looking at him over their shoulders. He was pointing off into the distance, spotting a lake with a waterfall. They were finally about to make it out of the desert and into the tree line, greeted with a nice, small oasis. A great place to take a much needed rest.

As they approached the lake, Katara and Aang both immediately and simultaneously stripped down to their under garments, diving into the water, barely kicking out of their clothes before the water hit their skin.

Sokka scrunched his face up at them as he perched himself up onto a rock at the lakes shoreline, digging through his bag for a map that would hopefully show the area around them in a decent amount of detail that would allow him to figure out what route they were going to take to get to the Earth Capitol.

Zuko sat on the ground with his back up against the rock Sokka was sitting on, watching as the young Avatar slipped underneath the water, only to come up engulfed in a block of ice up to his neck.

Toph sat at the edge of the lake, kicking the water with her feet as Iroh sat a few yards away from the shoreline, carefully following a brewing technique described in one of the books Katara had snatched up from the library for him. He smiled as he read through the directions, happy to know that he was on good enough terms with her that she would have him on her mind while she was there.

A wave of water came up, spraying everyone with water after Katara had done a cannon ball into the water from the cliff side.

"Great," Sokka growled out as he held up the now soaked with water maps.

"Sorry," His sister apologized as she rung out her hair before quickly bending the water from the paper.

Iroh cleared his throat and smirked, noticing his nephew's gaze lingering on the waterbenders body for longer than necessarily. Zuko groaned and turned, hiding his flushed cheeks away from everybody. Katara had been starting to fill out over the past couple of months. He couldn't help but look!

"Aang," Katara called out, getting his attention. "Wanna spar?" She asked, holding up a bubble of water in front of her. He smiled and nodded, motioning for her to come farther out into the water.

Zuko huffed as Sokka slid down the rock, sitting next to him, map held out in front him.

"Looks like the only place we'll be able to go is this sliver of land here," He mumbled as he used his finger to trace an invisible line over the route they would have to walk over.

"The Serpents Pass?" Zuko groaned, leaning over to get a better look at the map.

"Yeah, I mean, it's not like we have Appa to fly over everything anymore."

"I don't know," Zuko protested. "I've always been told to steer clear of that place."

"Well, it's all we have." Sokka huffed as he stood, standing still at the sight of people coming over one of the trails that led into the lake.

"Hello there, fellow refugees!" A man greeted as he waved to them all, two more people joining on either side of him.

"Well, hello!" Iroh greeted back. "Would you like some tea?" He asked, holding up a cup in their direction. Sokka and Zuko both narrowed their eyes, both feeling uncertain towards these people. Zuko scolded, telling his uncle that they didn't even know those people. Iroh smiled up at him, telling him they would soon.

Katara and Aang ended their session, bowing to each other, deeming it finished as a tie. As Aang ran over to them, Toph stood as Katara passed her, panting after practicing so hard with Aang.

"It's crazy how you exert yourself like that all the time, Katara." Toph said, matching her pace to the waterbenders as they made their way over to the rest of the group.

"What do you mean?" Katara asked, running her fingers through her hair in attempt to look at least some what decent for when she would introduce herself to the new trio.

"Well, I figured you'd wanna rest more and stuff."

"What? Why?"

"Well, I mean- because- ah, never mind. Forget I said anything." Toph shrugged, waving Katara off as they came up to the group. Katara gave her an odd look before turning to smile, greeting the people who now sat around the fire Iroh had made for his tea.

"Are you guys going to Ba Sing Se, too?" Aang asked, handing tea cup over to the man.

"Yes," He said, before taking a small sip of the tea. "Mm! This is really great!" He admitted, holding up the cup for slight emphasis. Iroh smiled and thanked him before taking a sip of his own tea. "We're trying to get there before my wife, Ying, has her baby."

"That's great," Sokka shrugged. "We can all travel through The Serpents Pass together." Hints of annoyance seeped through his fake happy, inviting tone.

Ying let out a gasp, nearly choking on her tea. "The Serpents Pass!" She breathed out, obviously startled with Sokka's suggestion. "Only the truly desperate take that deadly route!"

"Told you," Zuko grumbled under his breath, leaning over towards Sokka.

"Deadly route," Toph repeated. "Great pick, Sokka." She teased, giving him a punch in the arm, nearly knocking the cup filled with hot tea out of his hand.

"Well, we are desperate!" He growled, wiping away the steaming hot droplets of tea that had managed to land on his legs.

"You should come with us to Full Moon Bay," Tahn suggested. "Ferries take refugee's across the lake."

"And it's hidden," Ying added, "So the Fire Nation can't find it."

Katara hummed, a finger on her chin in thought. "Peaceful ferry ride, or deadly pass?"

!

As they walked into the Bay, everyone looked around sadly at the amount of people who were all trying to get a ferry ride. Waves of guilt crashing over Aang and the firebenders. Had the young monk not ran away from his Avatar duties, none of these people would be in this terrible situation right now. Iroh and Zuko were directly responsible for the other reason these people were having to struggle just to get through the day.

Aang and Zuko both let out a deep sigh at the same time. This was reinforcement for both of them. Aang still missed and worried about Appa dearly, but he knew he needed to get the information about the eclipse to the Earth King as soon as possible. This helped Zuko realize that he had in fact made the right choice and was doing the right thing by helping the Avatar end the war.

Aang made his way through the line, finally getting to the front.

"Next!" The woman shouted, annoyed that the boy hadn't had any passports, unimpressed with his Avatar 'costume', and angered even more that he was wasting her time.

"I'll handle this." Toph assured, walking up to the stand. "My name is Toph Bei Fong and I'll need six tickets, please." She slipped a small piece of parchment from one of her pockets and slid it onto the counter top, presenting it to the woman.

She let out a gasp and assured that it was her pleasure to help anyone of the Bei Fong family. "This document is so official," She breathed out, still in awe. "I guess it's worth six tickets." Toph thanked her and took the tickets, handing one to each person of the group.

"Alright!" Sokka exclaimed. "We scammed that lady good!"

"Shh!" Zuko scolded, they had literally just passed by a guard! "Can you be any louder!" He growled, glancing over his shoulder only to see the guard reaching out a hand to grab Sokka by the back of the shirt, snatching him back to face her.

"Tickets and passports!" The female guard demanded, holding her hand out.

"Is there a problem?" Sokka asked, a big, cheesy smile plastered onto his face.

"Yeah, I've got a problem with you!" She told him off, assuring him that she had seen and knew his type. Stating that he was probably sarcastic, thought he was hilarious, and was traveling with the Avatar. Zuko tilted his head. Wow, this girl was spot on.

Sokka raised his brow, "Do I know you?"

"You mean you don't remember?" She growled, snatching the warrior up by the front of his blue shirt. "Maybe you remember this!" It had looked as though she was about punch him, Zuko let out a gasp of shock when she leaned over and kissed Sokka on the cheek. Who was this girl?

"Suki!" Sokka cried out in joy, immediately taking the girl into his arms for a short hug.

!

They all sat in one of the guard towers, permitted in thanks to Suki. Katara expressed to her that she looked so different without her makeup, and the new outfit didn't make it easier to recognize her, either. Suki shrugged, telling her that the lady they had to deal with made all of the guards wear them.

"And look at you, sleeveless guy," Suki swooned over Sokka, eyeing him. "Been working out?"

"Ah, I'll grab a tree branch every now and then, do a few chin touches."

"Ha!" Zuko let out a laugh. Not once since he had joined them had he seen Sokka do anything of the sort. He had even asked him to join him during his own physical training sessions, having restarted doing strength exercises after he had healed properly. Sokka turned each of them down every time Zuko offered. "When? Before or after you eat all my smoked jerky?" He was still pretty annoyed that Sokka had eaten the jerky he had picked up from the Fire Nation village for him and Katara, again from the Northern Water Tribe, and then again after he gotten some in Gaoling. He made a mental note to himself after the third time, stating that jerky was not safe around Sokka.

"Oh!" Sokka rolled his eyes. "Like you work out!" Sokka hadn't seen Zuko doing any kind of exercising activities! Little did he know, this was because he slept in so late all the time. Zuko and Iroh were up at sunrise every morning, while Sokka would sleep in sometimes past noon.

"Yeah," Zuko boasted, holding up his thick, toned bicep. Between Katara and Iroh constantly pressuring him to eat all the time, he had been eating well enough for his body to have enough energy and nutrients to build and keep the muscle mass he had been working so hard for.

Sokka groaned, wrinkling his nose at the firebender. "That's not that great," He said, smacking Zuko's arm away from him.

"Are the other Kyoshi Warriors around?" Aang asked.

"Kyoshi Warriors," Zuko hummed. "That sounds familiar," He trailing off into thought, wondering where he heard that name before.

"It should," Suki hissed, narrowing her eyes at him. "You burned down our village."

"Oh!" Zuko hissed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Sorry about that."

"Yeah, how did you of all people end up traveling with the Avatar?" She asked, leaning towards him a bit, weary of his intentions.

"Uh," Katara piped up, "It's a long story." She gave Suki an awkward smile, making it clear that it was something they didn't exactly want to explain. Suki raised her brow and shrugged as she turned back towards Aang.

"Yeah, they're around. After you left we wanted to help more people. We escorted some people and we've been here ever since." The female warrior let out a small giggle as Momo hoped up onto the railing in front of her, chirping at her happily in his own language. She scratched him on the cheek and expressed that she was happy to see him, too.

She realized something and knitted her brows together, looking back over towards the group. "Why are you guys getting tickets for the ferry? Wouldn't you just ride on Appa?"

Most everyone looked down to the floor as they let out a sigh in unison. Katara glanced over towards Aang, the saddest expression on his face. She knew he didn't want to speak about so she spoke up, informing Suki that Appa had gone missing and that they hoped to find him in Ba Sing Se.

"I'm so sorry to hear that," Suki admitted softly, looking over towards Aang. "Are you doing okay?"

Aang knew she was being sincere and was honestly worried for him, but he was getting annoyed with everyone was baby-ing him about Appa. He had already expressed to them that he had just wanted to get to Ba Sing Se and inform the Earth King about the eclipse. "I'm fine," He grumbled, keeping his voice low enough to hide the annoyance in his tone.

"Avatar Aang!" Ying's frantic voice suddenly called out. The group stood and gathered at the railing, looking over to her. "Someone took all of our belongings! Our passports, our tickets!"

"I'll talk to the lady for you!"

!

"What if we gave them our tickets!" Aang pleaded, desperately trying to set everything right so the trio would have a safe way to Ba Sing Se. Ying was pregnant, they needed it far more than his group did. He had already expressed to the lady that she was pregnant, but she didn't care and went off on him about she couldn't just give away tickets or there would be no order and without order there would be no civilization.

"No!" She barked out at him.

"But-"

"Next!" Aang groaned out in defeat, turning on his heel, making his way back over to the trio.

"Don't worry, you'll get to the city safely," He assured, stopping before them. "I'll lead you through the Serpents Pass."

!

"I can't believe we gave up our tickets!" Sokka complained, kicking at the dust on the floor as he trailed after the rest of the group. "And we're going through the Serpents Pass!"

"I can't believe you're still complaining about it." Toph admitted.

"I'm coming, too!" Suki called out, running up to catch up with them. Sokka turned to face her. This worried him greatly. The only things they had heard about the Serpents Pass was that it was only used a last resort and was far too dangerous to be used often. Great. Danger. Sokka had a great past of keeping the people he cared about away from that, hadn't he?

He was happy she was coming along, he was, but he didn't want this to be a terrible failure on his part. He smiled at her, assuring her that he was glad she was joining them on their trip.

She smiled and grabbed him by the wrist, tugging on him to catch up with the rest of the group as they made their way to the entrance of the pass.

"This is it?" Sokka asked, leaning side to side to get a look at the trail in front of him. "This is the Serpents Pass? I thought it would be more wind-y. You know, like a serpent. Guess they missed named it." He shrugged.

"Look at this writing," Ying breathed out. "It's terrible." She frowned, pointing to the carving in the wood.

"What's it say?" Toph asked.

Katara made her way over to read it for her. "It says, 'abandon hope'."

"How could we?" Ying cried out as she leaned into Tahn's embrace. "It's all we have!"

"I don't know," Aang shrugged, a solemn expression on his face as he turned away from them. "The monks used to say hope was just a distraction. Maybe we do need to abandon it."

"Wow," Zuko blurted. "What a great suggestion." Sarcasm filled his tone as he narrowed his eyes towards the young Avatar.

Aang groaned and turned around, his face covered with annoyance. "Hope isn't going to get across this pass, it's not going to get us into Ba Sing Se, and it's not going to find Appa. We can't hope that we're going to get across this pass. We have to do it."

!

As they walked, a Fire Navy cruiser cut through the water's below them. Suki informed them about how the Fire Nation controls the Western lake, and that according to rumor, they're working on something big on the other side and they don't want anyone to find out what it is.

Suddenly, the rock beneath Tahn began to gave way, lucky for him, Toph bent a slab of stone out to catch him before he fell to his death. The rock splashing into the water just below them gave away their position and they were easily spotted by the men on the war vessel. A fire ball was catapulted their way not even a minute later.

Sokka alerted them and Aang took off before anyone else made a single movement, using his airbending to push him off of the cliff side and towards the fire ball, using his staff and airbending to send it hurdling back towards the ship, damaging the engine greatly. The ship sent another fire ball their way, smashing into the wall of rock over them.

Suki stood frozen as a bunch of rocks came tumbling towards her. Sokka immediately pushed her out of the way, putting himself directly under the falling rocks. Toph reacted quickly, bending an angled roof above Sokka's head, averting the rocks away from him.

"Suki, are you okay!" Sokka cried out, rushing over to her to help her up. "You have to be more careful!" He was not about to fail protecting someone he cared for again.

The group bolted into a sliver of land that had rock on either side of it for cover, keeping a fast pace to put good distance between them and the Fire Navy vessel.

As the sun began to set, they managed to find a nice, open area of rock to make camp on for the night.

Iroh set up a nice fire and began brewing some tea as the others began placing out their sleeping mats.

Zuko let out a snicker as he heard Sokka scolding Suki about where she should and shouldn't place her sleeping mat. Something about how the ground to could give out and how he thought he saw a spider. It was actually pretty sad, Zuko knew he was only being so over protective because of what happened to Katara and Princess Yue. But, hearing him screech out and over-react about small things, such as the imaginary spider, was pretty funny.

He lay back onto his mat, motioning for Katara to join him. She was sitting next to him, looking out into the distance, focused on something. She let out a sigh as she shook her head. "What?" He asked, concerned about her sudden odd behavior.

She messed her nails nervously as she lowered her gaze to the ground in front of her. "I feel bad for Aang." She admitted softly, slowly bringing her cerulean eyes up to his amber ones.

He sucked his teeth and rolled his eyes at her. "I'm sure he's fine." He grumbled, tugging on her arm.

"I'm gunna go talk to him." She breathed out, ripping out of his gasp as she stood.

"Katara!" Zuko whined, reached out after her.

"I'll be right back!" She hissed under her breath as she glared at him over her shoulder. "We can snuggle later!" She teased, waving him off as she carefully made her way over to the troubled monk.

He was standing close to the edge of a cliff, looking out over the vast ocean before him.

Katara let out a sigh, quietly alerting him that she was there, even thought he had probably already heard the rocks and dirt shifting beneath her feet with every step she took. "It's okay to be worried about Appa," She said softly, gently placing a hand on his shoulder.

"You saw what I did out there," He rasped. "I was so angry I couldn't control myself. I hate feeling like that." He admitted, looking down at the rocks far below him.

"I know sometimes it hurts to worry and to be angry and to care. But, you're not letting yourself feel anything anymore. You can't stop caring, Aang." She turned him to face her before she held out her arms to him, offering him a hug.

He turned to her and leaned his head down, bowing in front of her. "Thank you for your concern, Katara." She breathed out a sad sigh and watched as he slowly walked away from her.

She huffed as she plopped back down next to Zuko, sighing out sadly in defeat.

"Your hugs are always welcome here." He grinned as he slipped her into his arms, taking her into a bear hug until she squeaked.

Katara groaned at him, his teasing was not amusing her or making her feel better in any kind of way, even though his hug kind of did, as always. She watched as Aang made his way to an area covered in shadow, away from the fire and the rest of the group, having to curl up into a ball to keep warm.

He was blocking everything out, just as Zuko had when they were on the pirate boat. She wanted to go over them and hug him or just simply lay next to him, letting him know that she was there for him. But she knew he'd probably get annoyed and irritated, telling her to not worry about it and that he was fine.

She was torn. She wanted to go over there and be of comfort, but she also wanted him to realize that it was okay on his own. She huffed again, but eased up, deciding that she could try again in the morning.

Meanwhile, a little ways away from them, Sokka sat alone, gazing up to the moon so far above him. Suki noticed this and made her way over to him, telling him that it was beautiful moon. Sokka mumbled as he agreed.

Suki sat next to him, and told him that she knew he was just trying to help, but it wasn't needed. "Why are you being so over protective?" She asked, gazing up at him.

Sokka sighed and looked down, waves of emotion crashing over him. How was he supposed to explain his behavior? "It's so hard to lose someone you care about. A couple of things happened and I couldn't protect the people I love. They're both completely different, now. I don't want anything like that to ever happen again..." He trailed off, having a hard time deciding whether or not if he should tell her that he honestly didn't think he could go through it again himself.

"I lost someone I cared about," She admitted before he could say anything else, looking away from him for a second before returning her gaze to him. "He changed, too. But I think it's for the better. He seems smarter now, braver, I suppose a little bit funnier." She shrugged.

"Who is this guy?" Sokka asked as he stood. "Is he taller than me?"

"No, he's about your height."

"Better looking?"

"It is you, stupid!" Suki teased as she stood and turned to face him. She smiled up at him and leaned towards him. But before they could get too close, Sokka turned away. She apologized and he shook his head, telling her that she shouldn't be. She let out a small sigh and made her way back over to her sleeping mat for the night.

!

"I think I just found out why they call it the 'Serpent's Pass'!" Sokka shouted, pointing out towards the giant sea monster that had breached the water.

"I'll distract it!" Aang readied his glider as he ordered Katara to get everyone across. She nodded and began making an ice bridge across the water as he took off towards the sea beast.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait!" Zuko called out, holding an arm out in front of Toph before she stepped off the pillar of earth she used to lift them out of the water.

"What!" Katara snapped back at him as she helped the others cross.

"Ice, Katara, ice! What a great way of transport for a blind girl who can't see unless her feet are on the ground! If she can earthbend us out of the water, I'm sure she can make a bridge across it."

"Fine, you help Toph across while I go help Aang!" She yelled out before using her waterbending to aid her over to the serpent.

Zuko melted a part of the ice before motioning to Toph which way she should earthbend.

"Wow," Toph started as she jutted her arms forwards, beginning to create the earth bridge. "I can't believe you let her go out there and put herself in danger like that." He scrunched his face at her words. They were all in danger right now. What was she speaking about?

"Katara can handle herself." He assured her as he melted another patch of ice so she could easily continue the bridge.

"I've noticed, but I just figured because-" Toph was interrupted abruptly when part of the serpents body crashed into the exact spot they had been standing on earlier. Good thing they had moved and were already nearly halfway across. They would have been crushed!

"Good thinking, nephew!" Iroh praised from afar as he watched them carefully make their way over to him and the rest of the group.

"Wow, he's pretty smart." Suki pointed out.

Sokka scrunched his faced up and groaned. "I could'a thought of that." He said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"But you didn't!" Suki teased, letting a small laugh at him.

Toph let out a huge sigh of relief one she reached the rest of the trail. "That thing is huge, isn't it!" When it had hit the slab of earth it caused plenty of vibrations for her to get a look, but she hadn't been able to see all of it.

"Yep." Sokka informed, watching as his sister and the Avatar used a whirlpool to sling the serpent into the wall of rock, successfully scaring it off for the time being.

!

They continued walking along the trail for hours and the Sun was high in the sky before they finally made it the end, the outer wall of Ba Sing Se way out in the distance.

"Who would have guessed that I would be returning to my greatest military defeat as a refugee." Iroh sighed out, looking at the magnificent wall before him. But his attention was ripped away from the city's wall to Ying, crying out in pain as she held her heavily pregnant stomach.

"What's wrong?" Sokka asked, turning to face."

"The baby is coming!"

"What? Now? Can't you hold it in or something? Ba Sing Se is right there!" He yelled out frantically, holding a hand out towards the city.

"Sokka, calm down," Katara hushed him. "I've helped GranGran deliver lots of babies back home."

"This isn't the same as delivering an arctic seal! This is real, human... thing!"

"It's called a baby! And I helped her deliver plenty of those, too. Aang and Sokka, you two can go get some water. Zuko and Iroh can warm some blankets. Toph, I need you to make an earth tent. A big one. Suki, come with me." Katara motioned for her to join her after Toph created the tent.

A couple of more hours passed and Ying was finally ready to start pushing. Katara assured her that she was doing great as she guided her through the process of child birth.

Only a few more hours until dusk before they finally heard a baby's cry, Katara happily shouting out that it was a girl.

"You guys wanna go see the baby?" Toph asked, motioning towards the entrance of the tent. Sokka, Zuko, and Iroh all nodded, following the earthbender into the tent.

"You've got to see this, too, Aang." Katara welcomed him in, holding her hand out to the happy family.

"What a beautiful little baby girl." Iroh complemented, admiring the family and their good fortune.

"What should we name her?" Tahn asked, gazing down at his new baby.

"I want our daughter's name to mean something," Aang smiled and was overwhelmed with a feeling of new happiness and motivation. He wiped away some tears onto his sleeve before admitting to the family that he had been going through a hard time, and that they had made him hopeful again. Ying smiled up at him before she turned towards her husband, telling him that she knew what she wanted to name their baby. "Hope," She stated, returning her gaze back down her new little bundle of joy.

They stayed a little while, admiring the new baby before Iroh suggested they give them some time alone while he prepared some tea.

Aang pulled Katara away to the side and admitted to her that he had thought that was just trying to be strong, but he had really just been running away from his feelings. "Seeing this family, so full of happiness and love," He breathed out, still feeling incredibly happy for them. "It's reminded me about how I feel Appa, and how I feel about you," He smiled, lifting his gaze up to meet her eyes. "All of you." He added, motioning towards the rest of the group as they approached them. "Ill find Appa as soon as I can!" He assured. He exchanged his goodbye's with each of them before readying his staff and taking off towards the big city.

Aang glided over the landscape easily, reaching the outer wall within in an hour after he had began making his way over. He gained his footing after landing and looked over the side of the wall, expecting to see miles and miles of quiet, peaceful land that stretched out to meet the horizon. But instead, his eyes focused on something terrible. He didn't know what it was exactly but he knew it was bad.

He let out sigh, sadly telling Momo that Appa was going to have to wait.

He made his way back down, meeting up with the group not far from the outer wall.

"What's going on?" Sokka asked, tilting his head in confusion. "Shouldn't you be looking for Appa?"

Aang shook his head and explained to them that something bigger caught his attention as they made their way to the wall together. Once reaching it, he and Toph used their earthbending to make a make-shift elevator, lifting them up to the top of the wall.

There, they met a group of soldiers that, after telling them he was the Avatar, took them to man in charge, General Sung. But, to their surprise, he told them that their help wasn't needed, assuring them that he had everything under control with the help of an elite platoon of earthbenders stationed in front of and on top of the wall.

"No one from the Fire Nation is going to get through these walls. Many have tried, but none have succeeded." Sung informed falsely, forgetting about one of the greatest war generals of all time, who unknowingly, was actually standing right behind him.

"What about the Dragon of the West?" Toph asked. "He got in." Zuko had struggled to keep back a snicker after seeing the look on General Sung's face.

"Yes, but, he was quickly expunged!"

"Yeah, that's great," Toph stated quickly, uninterested in hearing more about the city. "We've still got the drill problem."

"The Terra Team will handle it," He said, motioning towards a telescope he had stationed on the railing of the wall. Sokka was hesitant, bit he was the first to make a movement towards the telescope, watching as two girls he recognized easily took out a group of men.

"It's those girls from Omashu!" He said, pulling away from it. "We've dealt with them before." He crossed his arms over his chest and his brow, watching as General Sung bit his nails out of nervousness. "Think our help is needed now?" He asked, leaning over to him.

General Sung held his head down in shame, but admitted that he did in fact, need their help.

"So, how are we going to stop that thing?" Aang asked, looking over to the water tribe warrior on his right. Sokka lifted his brow and asked why everyone was looking at him. "You're the idea guy."

"Yeah? Well, I'm not exactly from the Fire Nation, if anyone knows how to take that thing down it's one of these two," He kept his voice low as he leaned back and pointed to his left, Zuko and Iroh both on that side of him.

"What?" Zuko breathed, surprised that anyone would think that he knew anything about the drill. "I've never seen anything like that in my life!" He exclaimed, motioning over the stone railing towards the metal monster inching it's way closer and closer to the wall.

"Well," Katara sighed out, leaning over the railing. "If we do end up going down there, we have to remember to stay away from Ty Lee."

"Which one is that?" Toph asked, having never being informed of which of these girls were which.

"She'll be light on her feet," Katara began to explain, getting a sarcastic 'great' from the blind earthbender. "You can't let her close to you. She can block your chi so you can't earthbend, remember? She knows the body and it's weak points. It's like she takes you down from the inside."

"Oh, oh, oh!" Sokka stretched up onto his toes and raised his hand up as if he were a boy in school, suddenly stricken with the right answer after having to work out a hard problem.

"Yes?" Katara asked slowly, raising her brow at him.

"That's how we'll take that thing down! Like how Ty Lee took down all the big earthbenders! From the inside!"

Aang walked over the side of the wall, looking down at the giant metal machine. "You guys ready?" He asked, looking at them over his shoulder. They all nodded while the two firebenders in hiding hesitated.

"Actually," Iroh began. "I think it's best if Junior and I stay behind." He said, putting emphasis on Zuko's fake name. They didn't want to be spotted by either of the girls, and they new Azula couldn't be too far away. In fact, she had probably been the one who sent the two girls out to do the dirty work while she stayed somewhere else.

Zuko didn't want to see Mai, either, and last time Ty Lee had suspected that he was someone she knew. He still had the duo swords from the Northern Water Tribe, but with all that swinging around he's be having to do, his hood would probably be tossed off, exposing him to the two girls who would alert Azula, who would of course in form their father, and the whole Fire Nation of his and his uncles whereabouts.

"Alright," Aang shrugged, clinching his fist and jutting his arms out, earthbending a slab of rock from the wall to use as an elevator to get him the rest of group that was going with him down to the ground.

Sokka and Toph made their way over the railing and onto the lift while Katara hesitated, looking back at Zuko. She made her way over to him, wrapping her arms around him.

"Be careful." He leaned down to kiss her quickly before she pulled away, telling him that she would as she joined the others on the lift, Sokka pretending to gag over the side after the sight of them kissing in front of him.

Iroh smirked and beamed up to his nephew. Zuko noticed this and groaned as he rolled his eyes, looking away from him, also hiding his reddening cheeks from him.

!

Toph stayed outside of the metal machine, under it, where she could still see and earthbend and try to slow it down on her own while the others made their way inside.

Sokka managed to get a copy of the blueprints of the drill, using it to figure out where the pressure points were. It was almost like a living organism. It had metal on the outside, like skin; structure in the middle, like bones for support; and protected inner section; like organs to run it.

The warrior came up with a plan to have it collapse down onto itself. They would have to cut through the support beams, which seemed easy enough until they saw one in person. The beams looked thinner in person, but they were actually thick pillars of solid metal.

Their original plan was to cut all of them straight through, but after exerting themselves terribly after just one, Aang was reminded of something Toph had been teaching him. Instead of going through each of them all the way, they would cut only halfway through, then, they would go outside and deliver the final blow, using it's own weight against it.

With new found motivation, Aang and Katara quickly cut halfway through numerous pillars before Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee showed up. They began making their way down the halls, desperately trying to elude the other trio. At a split in the halls, Aang told Sokka and Katara find their own way out while he went after his, knowing that he would have to send the final blow to the drill. Azula sent Mai and Ty Lee after Sokka and Katara while she went after the Avatar.

Katara and Sokka fled down a slurry pipeline, knowing it would be their way out. Mai and Ty Lee came up behind them not long after.

"Ew, disgusting!" Mai complained.

"You heard Azula, we have to go after them!"

"She can shoot all the lightening she want's at me, I'm not going into that wall sludge juice. You probably shouldn't either," She pointed out, trying to sway Ty Lee away from the water tribe girl and her brother, knowing Zuko must be some place near. The acrobat made a face, but began lowering herself down into the pipe anyways. "It'll probably ruin your clothes!" Mai called out after her as a last attempt, but Ty Lee continued on anyways.

!

Katara stood, having finally made it out of the pipelines and onto the ground behind the drill. She looked up and saw Ty lee riding the current after them. The waterbender quickly bent the water back up into the end of the drill, keeping the girl and the sludge in one place. Sokka told her to continue, pointing out that the pressure within the pipes would build up and by the time Aang delivered the final blow the pipes would be ready to pop.

"You guys need some help?" Toph's voice ran out as she appeared from under the drill.

"Help me plug up this drain." The earthbender took a stance and bent the the mud farther back into the pipes, causing even more pressure to build up within them.

Finally, the sludge began to erupt from the back of the drill, Aang had delivered the final blow, causing the pipes to bust and the whole drill collapse. Toph shifted the earth beneath them, getting them out of the slurry's range before it all came crashing over them, as if they weren't already covered from head to toe in it.

They all met up at the wall. Katara managed to get a hug from Zuko despite her being covering in mud while Sokka began suggesting team names after being inspired by General Sung's 'Terra Team'.

Katara used her waterbending to wash herself and everyone else off, telling Sokka that they would discuss it as they made their way into the city.

* * *

**A/N: **Next chapter things will finally start to get a little bit different. I promise. ;)


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N**:

**WARNING!**

**THIS CHAPTER IS RATED "M"**

**Language, sexual situations.**

* * *

"**Someone** will be over with dinner later." Joo Dee continued to smile at the as her carriage began to stroll away.

Zuko let out a mix between a sigh of relief and a groan of annoyance. They had made it into the upper ring of the city where they had been granted their house for their stay in Ba Sin Se. Earlier in the day they had gone a tour throughout the whole city, Joo Dee constantly giving them trouble, changing the subject, and all out handling them. He was happy she was gone, but annoyed that she was going to be sending someone to bring them dinner.

"Really?" He huffed, crossing his arms over his shoulders. "We've traveled all over the world; I think we can handle making ourselves dinner." He shrugged as turned to make his way into the house, only to have Katara catch him by the arm before he made it through the door way.

"We should go look around for a nice place to eat. We should all go have a nice dinner together. Let's make the most of this; relax while we can." She suggested to everyone, motioning out towards the rest of the upper ring.

"Relax!" Sokka screeched. "We can't relax! We have to get this information to the Earth King!" He held up his bag and pointed to the scroll inside.

"I want to spend my time looking for Appa." Aang admitted, looking up to the sky, longing to see his bison flying over him at that very moment.

Katara sighed and pressed her lips together as she looked up to Zuko, disappointed that her dinner idea had been shot down once again. He noticed this and assured her that they would have a nice dinner together sometime while they were there.

Sokka turned and noticed a man creeping on them from behind his door window. He turned back towards the group and motioned for them to follow him.

They made their way across the street and knocked on the mans door, getting an immediate response from him. He expressed them that he had heard that the Avatar was in town and he introduced himself as 'Pong'.

"So, Pong," Sokka began, leaning over toward him. "What's going on in this city? Why does everyone act so strange? Why is everyone so scared to talk about the war?" He asked as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"War? Scared? What do you mean?" He asked, looking around nervously. Toph could feel him begin to tremble, and she pointed this out, telling him that she could feel him shaking. He let out a sigh before beginning to speak again. "I'm just a minor government official," He admitted. "I've waited three years to get this house and I don't want to get into any trouble." He poked his head a little farther out the door, still looking around nervously.

"Get in trouble with who?" Katara asked.

Pong hushed her and told them that they couldn't mention the war while in Ba Sing Se, and if they were to do anything, it was to stay away from the Dai Li.

He slid the door shut before anyone could ask anything else. The group exchanged looks at each other before shrugging and making their way to back across the street to their house.

They all sat on the front steps of the house, sighing every now and then out of boredom.

"So, what are we supposed to do now?" Katara asked, looking up at everyone around her.

"I think I'm going to go find a nice tea shop." Iroh said as he stood and began making his way off into the city, waving at them before they got too far, calling out that he would see them all later.

Aang sighed and stood, readying his glider. "I'm gunna go fly around; look for Appa." With that, he was off before anyone could say anything.

"I'm hungry," Sokka announced as he stood. "I'm gunna go find something to eat."

"I'll go with." Toph said as she made her way over to him, matching her pace to his.

Katara huffed and looked over to Zuko, who was sitting to her left on a step higher than she. She lifted her brow at him and he shrugged, figuring he knew what she was asking. He stood and held out his hand to her. She stood and laced their fingers together before they began making their own way into the upper ring of Ba Sing Se.

"So, what exactly are we looking for?" He asked as he tried to examine each building they passed to good detail.

"Just a nice place to eat." She paused, reading a sign that told the direction in which to go to find the market place of the upper ring. She tugged on him, silently telling him that they were making a turn.

They had passed many shops, restaurants, and gardens before the waterbender finally paused, coming upon a food place she deemed worthy enough for her attention.

"Look at this place," She breathed out, pointing towards it. It was four stories high and was so extravagant it could easily be mistaken as a small temple.

Zuko furrowed his brow. "You want to eat there?" He asked. With the tone of his voice, anyone would have thought he was appalled at the thought of even stepping foot into the place.

"Yeah, why not?" She asked, looking up at him as she stood in front of him.

"We only have a couple gold pieces left and this place looks seriously expensive. I bet everyone in there has their noses up." He growled, knowing just how snobby the riches and nobles could be from his own personal experiences.

"Zuko, we got special slips because we're with the Avatar. I doubt we'll have to pay for anything." She wrapped her arms around his left arm and pulled him towards the entrance. "Let's just go see what it's like inside!" She said, turning toward the door before he could pull away or say anything against it.

The inside was breath taking. Pillars in the dark, rich, classic Earth Kingdom green. The floors were a dark, Pullman Brown wood, matching the boards that covered half the walls. The paint on the upper half of the walls was a light tan color. The tables and chairs were also a dark wood, light green table clothes and chair cushions. Each table had either a small vase with a single white flower in it or a single candle in the middle. Wall, door, and pillar details were gold, dazzling the eye with every turn.

A man at the front desk narrowed his eyes at Katara, immediately scoffing over her and Zuko's odd and jankie attire.

"May I help you?" He hissed, placing his elbows on the counter as he leaned towards them, smacking his lips and rolling his eyes after speaking.

"How much would a dinner for two be?" Katara asked, his obvious rudeness flying right over her head.

"Um, well first you'll have to book a date, and we're backed up until mid fall, so you'll just have to wait 'til then, miss. And honestly, this place is far too upscale for people like you." He sneered at her.

Now, this act of poor manner she did pick up on. She pressed lips together as she crossed her arms over her chest, shifting her weight onto one foot as she raised a brow at him.

"People like us?" She asked, her voice dripping with fake sweetness as she motioned towards herself and Zuko. "And just what kind of people do we seem like to you?"

"Pickers, honestly." He shrugged. "From the lower ring, I'm sure. Surprised you've managed to slip in."

"Pickers, hm?" She asked, casually slipping a small piece of thick parchment from her pocket. "Do pickers walk around with one of these in their pockets?" She held the small, rectangular document out to him. His eyes immediately widening, his jaw dropping slowly.

"The King's pass," He breathed, slowly taking the cardstock from her palm to look at it closer. It was a dark green color, golden bordering, with the Kings official stamp in the upper right hand corner. He mumbled under his breath as he read aloud bits and pieces from the small, engraved print on the paper.

"Kings pass... please excuse... free of charge... Master waterbender Katara of the Southern Water Tribe... daughter of Chief Hakoda... blah blah blah... courtesy of the Earth King!... company of the Avatar!" He gasped and looked up to her wide-eyed before swallowing hard, sweat beginning to form in the corner of his forehead. "My deepest and most honest apologies!" He blurted out as he handed the document back to her. "I had not been informed before hand! Seat for two right away, Miss Katara?" He asked, plucking a pair of menu's up from the top of a stack of them, stepping out from behind the counter, ready to escort them to a free table.

She hummed and looked up to Zuko, silently asking him if he was up for it. He shrugged, uninterested. "I'm afraid we'll be passing up that offer as of now," She mimicked him from earlier, putting a large amount of snob in her tone. "But be assured, we shall be returning the near future!" She 'hmph'ed and took Zuko by the hand, strutting out of the restaurant with him by her side.

"Goodness!" She giggled, turning around to face the firebender. "How rude!"

"I told you!" He laughed, glancing back to the restaurant over his shoulder.

Katara let out a sigh, noticing it was beginning to get dark.

"What should we do now?" She asked.

Zuko shrugged. "I suppose we should start heading back now."

"We should, but we don't have to," She faded off into a sing-song voice, trying to tempt him into staying the night with her some place other than a house full of friends and family.

"Katara!" He groaned out, turning away from her, obviously still not in the mood.

"Alright, alright." She huffed out in defeat, lacing their fingers together as they began making their way back to the house they had been given to live in during their stay.

By the time they got back, everyone else had already made it back to the house themselves and were waiting for them to arrive.

Iroh explained his day, telling them about how he had found a nice, upscale tea shop to work at to keep himself busy while they were waiting to see the Earth King. He admitted that the current tea brewer could use some lessons, but he was sure that he'd have his skill up to par in no time.

Aang huffed out, there had been no sign of Appa anywhere.

Sokka and Toph had managed to find a nice steakhouse and with their pass, they had a good time eating past their fill. They were sure they weren't going to have to eat again for at least a week.

They all settled down into their own rooms for the night.

Katara huffed as she messed with her nails, waiting impatiently for Zuko to join her down on the bed. He let out a sigh as he sat next to her, pulling the covers over his legs as he asked her what was wrong.

"I don't know," She admitted as she looked up at him. "I feel like you and I haven't had an actual conversation in a while."

"What would you like to converse about?"

She pursed her lips and shrugged, glancing up before returning her focus on him. "How do you feel?"

"About what?" He asked, leaning back against the wall as he crossed his arms over his chest lazily.

"I don't know, about everything, I guess."

"Fine."

"Just fine?" She asked, raising her brow with concern. He nodded, giving her a small smile. She watched him, noticing that he was getting ready to lay down for the night. Before he could, she swooped over him, snagging his lips up into a kiss. He sat still for a moment, stunned, before returning the favor slightly. She pulled away only to put a leg on either side of him as she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him back into a kiss.

They sat there for a good while just kissing until Zuko pulled away, feeling her begin to rub him in a suggestive manor.

"Katara," He scolded out through a pant, removing her hand from him. "Here?"

She sucked her teeth and rolled her eyes at him, annoyed by him constantly trying to get out of being with her for a night. "We could sneak out; stay at an inn or something and come back in the morning." He remained silent, just staring at her. The waterbender narrowed her eyes pursed her lips, thinking of something else to try to coax him to be with her. She gripped his shirt, pulling a bit. "Please," She moaned out, grinding her hips against his. He gasped and pressed his lips together, struggling to hold back a moan of his own.

The firebender huffed and glanced around, as if an answer were somewhere in the room. "Well, what do you want to do?" He asked, obvious annoyance and frustration in his voice.

"You!" She blurted out, running a hand up his torso. He scoffed, but leaned down to kiss her again. Harder this time, and more lustful. She tightened her arms around him and managed to grind against him a couple more time before he ripped his lips from hers.

"What about Toph?" He asked, his voice soaked with nerves.

"Excuse me?"

"She see's through vibrations. What if all of our... moving around... wakes her?"

"We'll just go slow." She advanced towards him, only to have him flinch back.

"I'm not going to go slow," He admitted harshly. She leaned away from him a bit. "It's been far too long for that." He said softly, noticing that his earlier tone had startled her.

"Do you want to go somewhere?"

"I suppose."

They had trouble deciding exactly what to wear. They could put on their hoods so no one saw who they were, they were sure to begin getting a lot of publicity, word had already began to rapidly spread around that the Avatar and his company were in town. Plus, they were in the upper ring of Ba Sing Se, it wasn't exactly the most shady of places. They weren't about to go all the way to one of the lower rings just for a shag.

Katara pointed out that they could use the chill and wind as an excuse to use the hoods. This was good, but if they kept the hoods on whilst in the check in area, whoever was at the front desk was sure to believe they were about be mugged. She decided she would put her hair up into a top knot, a fashion she would never normally do.

With her hair still rather short, it was difficult to get a proper bun to sit on the top of her head, but she managed and examined her work in the mirror realizing just how much a difference it made on her appearance. She pulled on some red robes that would make her look even more different and she took off her necklace, leaving it on the bed side table, knowing it would be an object that could easily be recognized.

The couple found a fancy, upscale bed and breakfast that actually wasn't too far away from the house. It was perched atop a hill, looking over a vast area of uninhabited hills that were covered in patches of different colored flowers and green grass.

It had only been about half an hour since they had left the house, but it felt like it had taken them days to reach their room.

Katara took no time to hesitate, immediately pressing her partner down onto the bed as soon as it was within landing distance. She quickly disrobed him, leaving him in nothing but his under shorts as she ground her hips into his, already setting a rather fast, hard pace.

Zuko let out a low growl as he pulled his lips away from hers, getting a gasp of air before he bit into the skin on her neck, bucking his hips up to meet hers before he flipped them over. He stood to relieve her of her own robes while she smirked at the sight of him beginning to pitch a tent already. He swooped down and latched onto the skin of her neck again, sucking hard enough to leave a mark. He kissed, nipped, licked, and sucked a path down her neck to her shoulder, from there to the valley between her breasts, down to just under her navel.

He stood again to remove her lower under garments. "Goodness," He breathed, running a finger up between her lower lips. "You're soaking."

She rolled her eyes and swatted his hand away from her, annoyed at how long he was taking. She motioned for him to lay down. He did, and watched as she tore off his shorts before she straddled him. She began to lower down onto him, but he caught her, grabbing her by the hip. Her breath caught in her throat, obvious shock in her expression as she looked up at him, puzzled. She followed his gaze down, into the space between her legs. She watched as he ran the tip of his cock up and down through her folds repeatedly.

She rolled her eyes in annoyance and grabbed him by the forearm. "Stop teasing me!" She cried out. "I thought you said you weren't going to go slow. You're taking forever." She paused and watched him, a smirk spreading a across his face. 'Oh, no'. She thought to herself. What idea had she given him?

The firebender let a out long sigh as he took his precious time, slowly pushing every inch of himself into her. She tried to begin as soon he was done filling her, but he kept a firm hand on her hip, holding her in place. She growled out in frustration and tried to wiggle, but he remained set in stone, keeping her still.

Katara whimpered as she placed her forehead down onto his chest, defeated. She didn't like this at all. She hated being held down in any way, shape, or form. But what was she to do? The only thing she could think of to do was wait it out and remain still until he saw fit. She let out a huff. 'That's fine', she assured herself. He'd get his turn.

Zuko heated his hands before slowly removing them. It still felt as though his hands were on her hips, and she jumped when she felt him run his fingers through her hair, bringing it out of the topknot to cascade down over her shoulders.

The waterbender literally squealed in delight after realizing he had finally released her. She leaned up and kissed him roughly as she rode him fast and hard. Jolts of what felt to be electricity searing through her body with every meet of their hips. He lightly ran his finger tips over her back, sending even more waves of good feels up her spine and through her limbs.

It wasn't long before his head began to spin, both of their breathing already terribly ragged, their bangs sticking to their foreheads with sweat. He flipped them once again, using his elbows to keep himself propped up above her as he thrust into her. He focused on her neck with his mouth, leaving terrible patches of broken and burnt skin between his sucking and hot bursts of his breath. She would surely have to heal that in the morning.

She tightened her legs and arms around him, giving him no choice but to hit her hard with his final thrusts before he spilled into her. She hummed and ran her fingers of his back the way he had done to her earlier, feeling him shudder under her feather light touch. She let out a long sigh before kissing him weakly, exhausted.

He hugged her tightly as she pulled the covers up to his shoulders. She squeaked, letting him know he was hugging too hard. Suddenly, she began to giggle. He hummed, asking her what was funny. "Zubear." She snickered, noting that he was always giving her bear hugs.

"Oh, no." He groaned out, seriously hoping that he had not just earned himself a pet name. She laughed and kissed him one more time before easing down into the mattress, ready for sleep to come over her for the night.

!

"An owl," Sokka mumbled under his breath as he examined himself in the mirror, using his machete to shave off half of his thin mustache. Zuko paused on his own face shaving, holding back a snicker as he over heard the warrior speaking to himself. The three boys were standing in front of a mirror, shaving, prepping up for the day. "Who would have said that," He mumbled, shaving off the other side of his mustache. "Who would have said... that I... look like an owl? An owl... who would have... who- Oh!" He leaned back, realizing the trap he had fallen right into. "I get it!" He informed, jabbing Zuko in the arm with his forefinger. "That's not funny!"

Aang paused shaving his head for a moment, realizing what had just happened. "Please tell me you did not just get that joke, Sokka."

The warrior turned towards the monk, narrowing his eyes at him as he placed his fists on his hips. "I did." He admitted, seemingly proud of it. "And I don't appreciate being made a fool of by Zuko!" He informed, smacking the blade out of the firebenders hand, a bead of blood forming where the end of the blade had caught him.

Zuko hissed and washed off his face before glaring over to him. "I don't have to make you look like a fool," He said, beginning to make his way back to his and Katara's room. "You handle that on your own just fine, Sokka."

Zuko slid the door open to see Katara sitting up in the bed, obviously confused as to how she had gotten back to the house. "Morning," he greeted, smiling at her as he shut the door behind him. She looked at him, her blue eyes full of confusion. "I had to carry you." He growled, leaning down towards her. She noticed the line of blood trailing down his cheek and bent some water from the air to heal it. "You need to heal your neck." He informed, gazing at the love marks he had left on her, a part of him honesty wishing she could strut around wearing them proudly.

"What happened?" She asked.

"Last night!" He yelped as he jerked away from her fingers, surprised by her question.

"No," She laughed, blushing as the memories flooded back to her. "Your cheek."

"Oh, nicked myself shaving." She ran her knuckles down his cheeks, feeling the skin.

"Well, you've still got one side to do." He smiled and nodded as he stood, leaving the door opened behind him. She furrowed her brows and looked down, realizing that sometime during the night he had gotten her into a robe. She healed her neck blindly, smiling at the fact that he had also managed to get her necklace back around her throat. She stood and made her way out of the room, running into Iroh on the way out into the hall. "Oh!" She jumped back, startled by his sudden appearance. "Sorry!"

"Oh, no, I apologize," He looked up to her, noticing the smile she probably didn't even know she was wearing. "Well, you look as though you're positively glowing this morning, Katara." He smiled at her. You had to wake up _very_ early in the morning to sneak in past Iroh.

"Oh, thank you." She breathed sheepishly, pressing pass him.

She looked around the main room of the house, noticing everyone was primped and ready for the day. All but one.

"Where's Toph?" She asked to no one in particular, looking around.

"Sleepin'." Sokka answered, throwing a peanut into the air to catch in his mouth.

The waterbender slid the door to the earthbenders room open, shocked to see her laying spread out on her stomach in the middle of the floor.

"Toph?" She called, tilting her head. Toph turned her face towards her, letting her know she was awake. "Aren't you going to get ready for the day?" The earthbender stretched and groaned.

"Why would I? I've got no place to go." She shrugged.

Katara hummed and placed a finger on her lip in thought. "I saw a spa while I was out with Zuko yesterday. We should have a girls day out!"

"What?" She droned out, totally uninterested.

"Why not? We deserve some nice pampering!" Toph huffed, but agreed to go with her anyways.

The experience was a mixed one, Toph absolutely hated the pedicure, but she did enjoy the mud bath and even sitting the steam room, and she didn't mind having make up caked onto her face. The girls that worked there assured there she looked extravagant and beautiful, but Toph could care less, and she was sure that was what they said to all the women who came in.

As her and Katara began making their way back to the house, Toph admitted that it hadn't been too bad, and she actually felt girly. After spending a nice day with her, Toph felt closer to Katara than she ever had before, and finally decided to ask something she had been wanting to for a long time.

"Katara," She started, getting her attention. "I've got something to ask you that's been bugging me for a really long time now."

"What is it, Toph?"

"With the way you fight and always train so hard with Aang... do you even know you're pregnant?"

Katara stopped dead in tracks. Stunned. Her breath caught in her throat. It was if she had frozen in time.

"What?" She managed to croak out. She took in a gasp of air, trying to catch her breath as she took a seat on a near by bench. "Toph, please tell me your joking right now." She breathed out before swallowing hard. She sat up straight and looked down at herself, examining her body after hearing Toph say she wasn't joking. "Okay," She huffed. "So my hips and boobs have gotten a little bit bigger. I'm filling out!" The earthbender remained silent, unsure if Katara was speaking to her or not. "Maybe I've gain a little weight on my tummy, but- I can't be- no way. I'm not pregnant!"

"Katara," Toph snapped, her tone rather harsh, as if she had been insulted. "I can see him inside you." The waterbender groaned and buried her face down into her palms.

All the recent changes in her body weren't her filling out, it was her preparing for child birth! She couldn't believe it. Though, it did explain her soreness and sudden cravings for watermelon and a specific kind of smoked seal jerky no where in the world but the Southern Water Tribe had.

She tried to regain control of her breathing as she leaned up against the back of the bench, thinking back to her previous nights with Zuko. Had it been from that one time on the pirate boat, or from the times in Hitomu's Inn? Either way, she was already into the second trimester. She looked back down to her tummy.

She was barely showing. She remembered some girls back home in the Southern Water Tribe that hadn't even shown during their pregnancy at all. She wondered how big she would get and how fast.

"Oh, no." She thought aloud. How was she going to tell Zuko? Tell Sokka? Tell her father! What if they didn't win the war? What if something happened her during a fight? She began to fan herself with her hand, fears and worries crashing over her.

"Sorry," Toph blurted out suddenly. "I thought you knew, but I wasn't sure..." She trailed off, honestly feeling bad for the girl. She hadn't meant to freak her out. Especially after their day of relaxation.

"How am I gunna tell Zuko? And Sokka?" She cried out, looking hopelessly towards the blind earthbender before her even if she couldn't see her expression.

"I'm sure Zuko will be thrilled, and Sokka will understand."

"No!" Katara barked out. "I don't even know if Zuko loves me, Toph! And Sokka, he'll think Zuko took advantage of me or something." Toph sighed and sat next to Katara, awkwardly placing a hand gently on her shoulder in attempt to calm her down. She wasn't good at things like this, but she would try.

"Katara, Zuko is crazy about you. His heart races if you even glance his way, and when you two are next to each other, you both are in some of the calmest states I've ever seen anybody in. Sokka knows you guys love each other, why would he think Zuko would take advantage of you?"

Katara sniffled, holding back her tears. She turned and looked towards Toph, intrigued by what she had just told her. "Sokka knows we love each other?" She asked, quickly wiping away a stray tear.

"When we ate at that steakhouse, he told me about he could honestly feel it radiating off you two. He feels like he knew it before you guys did. He says that it's still sometimes hard to accept that it's Zuko, but he doesn't have the slightest struggle with seeing you as happy as Zuko makes you, and that makes it a lot easier. He told me that he was happy for you guys and honestly wished you the best, but also to not be mistaken, and that he would drown Zuko if he ever hurt you."

Katara laughed. "Yeah," She breathed, gently rubbing her eyes. "That's Sokka." She took a long pause, thinking long and hard on if she wanted to confess to Toph about what happened on the pirate boat.

It was still hard to think about it, and with Zuko not being present it was even harder, but she fought through and focused her energy and on just letting it out and finally telling someone about it. She huffed and mess with her nails, counted to three in her mind, deciding that would be when she would begin explaining what happened.

"This baby wasn't exactly planned, obviously." She breathed out, forcing herself to come to terms with the fact that she was with child. "On that pirate boat," She paused, biting her lip. "It's Zuko's. The men," She paused again, struggling to get it out without completely breaking down. She was sure her makeup had smeared all over her face by this time. "Made us... you know," Katara huffed, feeling the awkwardness rise in the air. "-so they could watch." She finished and finally stopped fighting the tears, letting them race down her cheeks.

Toph paused and thought about what she had just heard. It was terrible, but it made everything make sense. She knew Katara and Zuko had this weird bond. Strong, but still kind of weird; foreign to her. Now she knew why. They had latched onto each other to survive. Love budded in the defense mechanism and grew into something far stronger that bonded them together. She swallowed hard before turning back towards the water bender.

"I'm so sorry." She said honestly, feeling terrible. She didn't know how to handle this situation. No one had ever cried like in front of her. She wanted to hug her, but she didn't want it seem forced, but if she sat there, would it seem like she didn't care? Toph sighed and gently patted Katara on the shoulder.

Katara huffed and took some water from the air, using it to clean off her face the best she could. She sucked it up the best she could and stood.

"Would you come with me to the market?" She asked, her voice still shaking. Toph stood and nodded without a hesitation.

Katara managed to find a nice a store that had nice supply of baby clothes. She picked out n little outfit and had it wrapped, getting everything with the help of the King's pass.

"What's all that for?" Toph asked as they began making their way back to house, the sun would begin to set soon.

"I have an idea as to how I'm going to tell Zuko about this."

"Katara," She called before the waterbender entered the house. Katara turned and faced her. "I'm sure everything will be just fine."

Katara bit her lip, digging her nails into the box that held the little outfit. "I'm sure it will be, too." She lied, Toph knew she didn't actually believe that. The earthbender huffed and followed her into the house, reminding herself to keep her mouth shut about this until Katara told everyone about it. She had been seriously worried about it. Toph shrugged, this should interesting.

"Hey, Katara!" Sokka greeted. He was draped in Earth Kingdom colors. He must have bought himself some new outfits whilst out in the market with Toph. "You wanna have that dinner with everyone tonight?"

"No." She said, sliding the door open, only to see Zuko standing on the other side, wearing the fancy outfit she had bought him when they were in the sea port village. She jumped and held the box in her arms close to her, startled so see him there.

"No?" The firebender asked. "We all thought you would want to tonight." She shook her head and pushed him back into their room. "But I'm wearing that outfit you bought me!" He protested, standing still against her pushing after a couple of steps backwards.

"No, I have to speak with you."

"About what?" Sokka asked, poking his head into the doorway. Katara turned and glared at him.

"Not with you." She growled. "Zuko."

Her brother narrowed his eyes at her and stood fully in the door way. "Why can't you tell me?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Because I can't!"

"Why!"

"I will later! Just go eat dinner with everyone, Sokka!"

"I want you two to go!" He admitted, taking a step into the room.

"We will later," She softened her tone and her expression, knowing now was not the time to be fighting with her brother. "We'll all go that steak house you and Toph ate at, okay? Just not tonight."

Sokka sighed, dropping his hands down to his sides. "Alright," He huffed out, turning to make his way back out to the living room. Katara slowly slid the door closes, hearing Iroh propose that they go to the tea shop he had began working at the day before.

Katara sighed and waited until she was sure they were gone before she turned around to face Zuko, who was now sitting down onto the bed, frustrated that he had gotten all dressed up for nothing and confused as to what was going on. He looked up to her, watching her as she slowly made her way over to the bed, sitting down into front of him, placing a box down between them.

"What's this?" He asked.

She swallowed hard, feeling herself beginning to tremble. "I got you another outfit." She breathed out. She examined him and noticed just how well the outfit she had gotten him in the sea port looked really good on him, even though she could tell where the fabric was hugging him a bit too tight in the wrong area's. He had been terribly thin when she had bought that for him. He still looked just too handsome, though.

She watched as his face tightened as he narrowed his eyes, looking down at the box before him. "I think it may be a little small on you, though." She admitted.

He shrugged, thinking this was because of how much muscle mass he had been gaining recently. She motioned for him to open it and he began to, pausing when he heard her take in a sharp breath. He looked up to her, silently asking her what was wrong.

"Nothing," She breathed out, swallowing hard afterwards, struggling to control the shake in her voice. "I just want you to like it."

Something wasn't right. She was acting awfully strange. She was terribly nervous, and he wondered if this was some kind of prank. Was something going to jump out at him as soon as he lifted the top off the box? She wouldn't get this worked up over a prank, though...

He huffed and removed the top slowly, gently placing it on the bed next to him. The outfit was covered in tissue paper and he could hear her rash breathing. He could tell she was freaking out, and he slowly pulled the tissue paper away from the fabric underneath.

He examined the outfit. A little, dark green tunic with golden trimmings; little dark green pants to match. She _thought_ it_ may_ be a_ little_ small for him? Well, of course it would be! These were baby clothes!

Wait.

He gasped and looked up to her, realizing just what he was looking at. Those were_ baby_ clothes!

"Are you serious?" He breathed out, noticing her lips begin to quiver and tears welling up in her eyes. She nodded, a single tear running down her cheek. "How do you know?" She didn't look pregnant. She hadn't gotten sick. She bugged him about watermelon sometimes, but Sokka always bugged them about jerky, that didn't mean he was pregnant!

"Toph told me." Her voice was barely above a whisper. Her face fell and she cried as she kept her eyes focused on her nails as messed with them. "I'm sorry."

"You're sorry?" He gently grabbed her by the forearm, pulling her towards him, wrapping his arms loosely around her shoulders. She nodded. "Why are you sorry?"

"What are we gunna do!" She cried out, sobbing down into his chest, allowing him to tighten his arms around her.

"We're gunna have a baby." He informed, keeping his tone calm and collected as he placed a kiss atop her head.

"How am I supposed to tell Sokka?" She asked, leaning back to look at him. "We can't just let him figure this one out on his own this time." She added quickly, knowing this would be something Zuko would suggest. She groaned, looking around the room sadly. "We're in the middle of the war, we're not even married," She trailed off, mumbling other worries incoherently.

Zuko placed a hand under her chin, having her look up at him in the eye. "Babies are born everyday, I'll marry you." He assured. She furrowed her brow, not believing him about the marriage part at all.

She pulled away from him, but kept her focus on his amber eyes. "I don't want you to marry me because you feel like you have to!" She cried out, unsure if he would have said the same thing had she not been carrying his baby. "I want you to marry me because you want to!"

"I do want to!" He admitted, cupping her face into his palms. "I love you." He felt her try to tug away, but he put his arms back around her and pulled her into his lap. "I do." He assured softly before kissing her. He pulled away and placed his forehead to hers, staring into her tear filled cerulean eyes.

She looked absolutely terrified, but he picked up on a flash of comfort that went through her expression. He was scared, too, but hid it the best he could for her sake.

His mindset had been changed, set in stone. He was going to this. They were going to this. They were going to end the war. They had to and they would. This group was unstoppable, there was nothing they couldn't do. They had already brought a baby into the world, -even though it wasn't theirs - why couldn't they do it again?

He huffed and leaned back into the wall, still cradling her in his arms. He imagined what life was going to be like with her. He had known he loved her for sometime, even if he hadn't actually registered it or came to terms with it. He had gotten Master Takumi to carve him a stone with a custom insignia months ago. He hadn't intended on asking her then, it was far too soon and he wasn't even sure he had really did love her then or if it was just a wave of emotion crashing over him, making his thoughts and choices foggy and sudden, acting on impulse.

But he was glad he had gotten it done. He fell for her quickly. Looking back he could tell. He hadn't noticed then, but now it was obvious. He loved her. He really did. He was scared, he worried about something happening to her and the baby, or what kind of father he would be, but as long as she was there going through it with him, he was positive everything was going to be just fine.

His ease and state of calmness proved that it would be fine. Had this been him a few months ago, he was sure he'd been angry, terribly frustrated, and frightened to death. But he wasn't. He was actually kind of happy about it. Of course, somethings had be taken care of, the war, their relationship status, but he was going to have a happy little baby with the girl he loved.

They were going to end the war. He knew this. He would give her the necklace eventually, he was sure she'd say yes, so that was fine. After the war ended, he was sure his uncle would take the throne, he would have his banishment revoked, he'd live in the palace and he hoped she would like it there. That was pretty much taken care of. Everything would be fine.

Zuko told her this, assuring her that everything was going to be fine until he was sure she was asleep.

He huffed and pulled the covers up over them to her shoulder, assuring himself that everything would be fine as he fell into his own slumber.

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**A/N: **I can't tell you how long I've wanted to write this. Leave a review! Tell me what you think, please! **  
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	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: **Enjoy! **********  
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**"Morning**," Zuko mumbled out softly as he noticed Katara finally beginning to open her eyes, finally beginning to stir out of her slumber. She had of course been using his arm as a pillow during the night and he remained still as to not wake her, even if his arm was numb and tingling.

The waterbender sighed and gripped his shirt. She felt a flutter in her stomach as the memories of the day before crashed onto her. She was sure the feeling in her tummy was just fears and nerves, but a part of her wondered if it was the little life moving about inside her.

"I'm scared, Zuko," She admitted as she lifted her head to look him in the eyes.

"Don't be." He kept his voice soft as she cupped her cheeks into his palms. The light from the window poured onto her dark tan skin and into her deep blue eyes. Her bed hair looked absolutely perfect as it rolled down over her shoulders. He felt a sudden wave of pure bliss surging throughout his veins, coursing through his entire body. He realized just how much he loved this girl, the amount honestly scaring him a bit.

"How are we supposed to tell them?" She whispered, sitting up and pulling her hair up in a pony tail, ripping him from his thoughts.

Zuko shrugged and got out of bed to begin changing into a new outfit for the new day. "Dinner?" He asked, pulling on a clean shirt.

"Out in public?" She asked as she handed him a pair a pants that would match the shirt perfectly. "What if Sokka freaks out? No, I mean, what are we going to do when Sokka freaks out?" She fixed her question, putting emphasis on the 'when'.

"Maybe he won't if we're out in public."

"He will." They both let out huff, frustrated with their situation. Katara hummed, thinking of something they could try. "Maybe we should ask Toph. Maybe she could think of how to do it." She hopped off the mattress and secured her belt around her robe before pulling the sliding door open, poking her head out, looking in both directions before stepping out this time.

She tip-toed out the room and into the hall, unsure just how early it was. She made her way into the living room, noticing her brother sitting the middle of the floor sharpening his boomerang. He looked at her over his shoulder.

"Morning." He grumbled before returning his attention back to his sharpening. He must have just woken up not too long ago.

Katara whispered him a good morning as well and kept light on her feet as she made her way to the other side of the house, where Toph, Sokka and Aang's room were.

She slowly opened the door, seeing Toph in the middle of the room still asleep on her mat.

Katara huffed and prepared herself before making her way over to the sleeping earthbender, gently shaking her a bit.

"Toph," She called out softly, earning herself a mumble from the girl. "Toph, wake up." Toph groaned and furrowed her brow, swatting Katara's hands away from her as she turned onto her side, facing her back towards the waterbender. "Come on, please? I gotta talk to you."

"What?" Toph dragged out lazily, still half asleep.

"Do you have any idea as to how we're supposed to tell everyone else about the little bundle of joy I have growing inside me?" Katara asked, leaning over Toph to look at her face.

"Just tell them."

"I can't just tell them!"

"Sure you can."

Katara huffed and ran her hand over her face, totally frustrated. Toph wasn't helping. Her attention went the door as she heard it being slid open. It was Zuko. He came in and sat next to her, asking if they had any ideas.

"No," Katara barked out. "Toph isn't helping." She said, jabbing the girl in the arm.

Toph huffed and turned over onto her back, lacing her fingers together behind her head. "What are you guys so worried about?" She asked, shrugging.

"Well," Katara began sharply, annoyed by how simple Toph was thinking this situation was. "First off, Zuko and I are both far too young for this, we're not married or even engaged, - even if we plan to be one day - and we're in the middle of a war. Everyone is going to flip out." She reminded and informed Toph as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Well," Toph began just as sharp as Katara has. "You and Zuko love each other, right? And you're going to be married, right? We're going to end the war, right?"

"Yes," Katara sighed out as she rolled her eyes.

"Then why are you so worried? What did I tell you, Katara? Everything is going to be fine."

Zuko smiled and put an arm around Katara's shoulder. He had said pretty much the same exact thing the night before. Toph was right about all that, though he felt that Katara did have a right to be so worried about how her brother was going to react to the news they had for him.

Zuko was even kind of worried about how his uncle would feel about it, even though he knew he would understand completely after they explained about what happened. He wasn't too sure about Sokka, though. He would still probably be angry about it and think Zuko took advantage of Katara in her vulnerable state or something.

Toph sat up suddenly and pointed towards the door. "Wow, what a great prank idea, you guys!" She said stiffly. "We should pull that off at dinner tonight."

The door was pulled open abruptly, Sokka standing on the other side before them.

"What's going on in here, you guys?" The warrior asked, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned up against the door frame.

"Nothing!" Katara stood, smiling sweetly up at her brother, understanding what Toph was setting up.

"Really?" He asked, keeping his eyes on her as she walked around him and out into the hall, making her way to the middle room.

She nodded to him over her shoulder before she slipped behind the corner.

Sokka turned back to face the firebender and earthbender, who were both still sitting in the middle of Toph's room. He raised a brow at them. Zuko stood, smiling awkwardly as he took his turn pressing pass him.

After Sokka was sure Zuko had made it out of the hallway, he looked back towards Toph and walked over to her, sitting down at her side.

"So, what's really going on?" He asked.

"Nothin'." She shrugged.

"If there were, you'd tell me, right?"

"Of course I would, snoozles." She smiled and patted his shoulder before she stood and shooed him out of the room, informing him that she needed to get ready for the day. He hurried out and joined the rest of the group out in the living room.

Katara was standing there, a bunch of parchments rolled up into her hand.

"I know how we're going to see the Earth King!" She exclaimed, looking towards her brother. "He's throwing a party tomorrow night for his pet bear!"

"His pet bear?" He asked. "You mean skunk-bear?"

"Nope." Aang shrugged. "Just bear."

"This place," Toph called out, making her way out of the hall and into the living room, already dressed and ready for the day. "Is weird."

"Yeah," Zuko agreed, shoving himself off the wall he had been leaning on. "Ready to go, Uncle?"

Iroh nodded as he passed his nephew and opened the front door.

"Where are you going?" Katara asked, uninformed that they had made plans.

"We're going to go get some," Zuko trailed off in thought. "Tea." He said, putting emphasis on the word, informing her on what he planned to discuss with Iroh while they were out.

"Oh," She nodded, understanding and approving. "Toph," She called out, turning towards the blind earthbender. "Would you like to go to the market with me?" She asked, putting emphasis on the word 'market'. "We should pick out some nice dresses for the party tomorrow," She paused and swallowed, glancing up at her brother for a split second before looking back at towards Toph. "And the dinner tonight."

"I would love to, Katara." Toph smiled and made her way over to the door, only to be stopped by Sokka's voice before she could reach it.

"Aang," She heard him say. "We should go with them."

"No!" Katara protested, a bit too harshly. She gave a small smile, laughing nervously. "I mean, Toph and I should be the ones to pick out your outfits. Toph knows what would be customary and I can describe what they look like for her."

"Toph is blind, she doesn't care what we look like." Aang said.

"Oh!" Toph exclaimed, putting her hands on her hips. "So because I'm blind, you feel as though you don't have look presentable around me?"

"No, no!" Aang cried out, waving his hands. "That's not I meant!"

"Well then what did you mean, twinkletoes?"

"Well, I just meant that- I mean I- well-"

"Save it," Toph said, holding her hand out in front of his face. "You guys should go look for Appa again or something."

Aang sighed and slumped over, defeated. Toph was right. That's what they should be doing.

"Alright." He said, following them outside, stopping in front of the house to exchange goodbye's. Aang went to start walking in the other direction when Sokka caught him by the upper arm, stopping him. "What?" He asked, looking up at him.

"Something's going on." He said, watching as the girls walked off in the distance, toward the market.

"What do you mean?" Aang asked, following his gaze towards the girls.

"I don't know," He admitted slowly, narrowing his eyes as he turned towards the direction Aang had chosen to search in. "But I don't like it. Stay on your toes, private! I smell a prank war a'brewin'!" He announced, smacking the young monk on the back before he began marching off down the street.

Aang ran his hand over his mouth in thought. He hummed as a smirk began to stretch across his face. He had pulled off so many great pranks with Gyatso and his other friends so many years ago. He was sure this was going to be fun.

!

Iroh watched carefully as Zuko slowly pried the crust off the finger sandwich he had plucked from the large dinner plate that was placed in the middle of the table as appetizers while they waited for their main course.

Instead of going to the tea shop Iroh had been working at, they figured that they should find a nice place to have breakfast. They had managed to find a nice, small, quaint little place to eat at on this fine morning.

Now, Zuko has had some rather odd eating habits and rituals since he had began recovering from his mother's disappearance, but Iroh could tell something was on his mind, causing his anxiety to extra intense.

Iroh took a small sip of his tea before asking his nephew if anything was bothering him. Zuko shrugged as he finally pulled off the last bit of the crust.

"I've just," He paused, noticing the waiter arrive with their food. He pushed the sandwich plate out of the way, making room for the new plates. Iroh continued sitting in silence as he watched Zuko arrange the food on his plate in a way only he understood. Something was seriously bothering him. "Got something to tell you." He sighed out.

"So tell me."

Zuko huffed and looked up towards his uncle. "I don't know how." He admitted, looking back down to his food. Katara had done is so cleverly.

"Take your time." Iroh insisted, smiling towards his troubled nephew before he picked up his chopsticks, plucking up a nice sized piece of the tamago in front of him.

"After we do all this," Zuko paused, glancing around before leaning towards his uncle. "You'll take your place on the throne, right?" He whispered.

Iroh paused. "No, I think you should." He admitted before taking a sip of his tea.

"Well," Zuko sat back down and bit his lip. "My," He paused again. Agni, this was hard. What would his uncle think? Would he be angry? Disappointed? How would he react? "Bloodline would already be secured." He spoke so quickly Iroh almost hadn't caught what he had just told him.

Zuko watched as his uncle leaned back into the chair, carefully placing his chopsticks down onto their rest, staring at him intensely.

Iroh stared, then swallowed, stared some more, blinked, stared some more, took a sip of his tea, then stared some more. "What?" He finally asked.

Zuko swallowed hard and took in a breath as if he were about to speak, but then he remained silent, keeping his eyes on his uncle.

Iroh leaned forward and laced his fingers together as he placed his hands onto the table. Zuko nodded slowly. His uncle sighed and used a cloth to wipe the crumbs and tea from his mouth and lips.

"We think it's time you guys learned what all happened on the pirate ship." Zuko said lowly.

Iroh chucked. "I think I know all about that, nephew."

"No, no. It wasn't like that." Iroh gasped and his eyes went wide.

"Zuko," He breathed out sadly, realizing what must have happened.

"They had us do things," Zuko started slowly. "For their entertainment." He concluded, knowing his uncle would easily put the pieces together.

"So, it is yours, right?"

"Yes," Zuko nodded. "We got out of there before they started using her for themselves."

Iroh's features filled with sadness and concern for his nephew. "Zuko, I am so sorry." He said, placing a hand over Zuko's.

"Don't be," Zuko said, very much to Iroh's surprise. "Everything happens for a reason, right?" He asked, shrugging with one shoulder.

Iroh smiled proudly, so happy that his lessons had seeped into Zuko's mind and helped him cope with things. He still felt so terrible, and that smile quickly faded into a smaller one, still wearing it for Zuko's sake.

He felt so terrible and guilty. He felt as though he had allowed it happen. Would things been different had he not fled when Zuko had told him to? The two of them would have easily out-matched the pirates. Zuko never would have been captured, used, or physically and mentally abused. He would not be the Zuko he was today.

This brought a smile to his face. Had all that not happened, Zuko would still be that angry, troubled, frustrated boy controlled by his father. Probably still hooked on capturing the Avatar and ending the war in the most absolute of wrong ways.

Zuko had changed and grown in to man he was supposed to be. Sure, he was still troubled, but he was happy, and he had found a perfect, beautiful someone to spend the rest of his life with. Zuko had been smiling and even occasionally laughing far more than Iroh had seen or heard him done in literal years.

Zuko was happy and Iroh was happy for him.

"Yes," Iroh began softly, a large smile upon his face. "Everything does happen for a reason."

!

"So, sweetness," Toph began, teasing Katara with a nickname. "What's the plan?"

Katara hummed and plucked a fancy looking rope up, holding it over her body, imagining herself in it. "I don't know," She admitted, placing the robe back, beginning her search for another. "He probably thinks we're going to pull a prank on him now. I thought you had a plan and that's why you said all that."

"Well, I was jut asking if you had any other plans."

"Oh."

"My idea is to say something about you while we're having dinner, like, 'make sure you eat extra for the baby' or something like that." She shrugged, reaching out to feel the fabric of the dress she felt the waterbender holding out to her. "Too scratchy." She informed.

Katara huffed, looking around for another robe of yet another fabric. Toph was so picky about the fabrics! She had thought this was going to be an easy trip. "Well, then he'll think that's the prank."

"Maybe that's good. Maybe it'll let him down easy."

"I don't know, you love he loves a good joke. What if it brings him down even more because he thought it was a prank and he gets all exited for a prank and then it's not?"

Toph laughed. Yeah, that sounded like something Sokka would do. "Well, how else are we supposed to do this? Oh, I know. How about you just tell him!" She raised her voice a bit, shoving a robe towards Katara that had been made of the kind of fabric she liked, making her search for a proper robe easier.

"I can't." She said sharply, finally finding a robe that was perfect for Toph.

She had already picked both of her dresses and the head dresses they were going to wear to the King's Party. Just one more dress to go and they could finally get out of there. They had visited many different shops and it was about time to start heading back to the house if they wanted to be able to get to dinner at a reasonable time.

"Yes you can." Toph groaned out. She felt as thought Katara had nothing to worry about. With a little explanation, she was sure that Sokka would understand.

Katara huffed and snatched up a robe, not caring what it actually looked like. It was the fabric Toph liked and it was her size, so she would wear it.

"Come on." She ordered after showing the lady at the front desk her pass. Toph huffed and followed her back to the house, surprised to see Sokka and Aang sitting out on the front steps.

"Any luck on finding Appa?" She asked sadly, figuring she already knew the answer.

"No." Sokka tilted his head back, looking up towards the sky.

"We did find a printer, though!" Aang exclaimed, always looking on the bright side of things. "He's going to make up a bunch of fliers that we can put up around the city."

"That's great, Aang." Katara smiled. "Are you hungry? We should start getting ready for dinner. Are Zuko and Iroh back yet?"

"Yeah, they've been here." Aang said as he stood up, trailing into the house after her and Toph.

Sokka huffed and figured he should go start getting ready as well.

!

"So, we're going to that steakhouse Toph and I found, right?" Sokka asked as he examined himself in the mirror, tightening the belt around his waist.

"Do they serve anything... not meat?" Aang asked. Sokka paused and furrowed his brow. He turned towards the young monk and shrugged. Aang sighed. "Great."

Iroh sighed as he stood next to Zuko, noticing him messing with a stray string from his robe nervously.

"I'm sure everything will go smoothly." He whispered over to him, knowing he was nervous about what was going to be said at dinner.

"I sure hope so." Zuko admitted, shoving himself off the wall at the sound of his bedroom door being slid open.

Katara poked her head out from behind the corner. After noticing him noticing her, she stepped out from hind the wall, holding her hands out to her sides.

"How do I look?" She asked, watching Zuko make his way over to her.

"Beautiful." He assured, taking her into a hug, holding her tightly in his arms.

She narrowed her eyes. He hadn't even taken a moment to get a good look at her.

She had pulled the top half of her hair back behind her head, placing a small clip that was adorned with a light pink, fake flower at the place where the two pieces of hair met. The rest of her hair flowed over her shoulders and down her back. The rosemary tea had been helping, though she wished her hair would grow even faster. It still wasn't at the length she liked it to be.

Her dress was dark green with gold details and trimmings and she didn't put on any makeup, figuring this wasn't as upscale as the King's Party would be. This was just a fancy outing for everyone.

"Is everyone ready?" She asked as she pulled away from Zuko, dismissing her brother's glare.

Toph had joined them in the middle room and they all nodded.

"Wait." Katara said, stopping dead in her tracks after going down the front steps. "We're going to that steakhouse?" She asked, looking towards her brother. He nodded. "But what about Aang?"

"It's fine," Aang said, holding a hand up. "I'm sure there's something there I could eat." He shrugged, smiling up at her, trying to assure her that it was okay.

"You shouldn't have to wonder. That's not fair." She protested, placing her hands on her hips.

"But you said we would go to the steakhouse!" Sokka exclaimed, turning around to face his sister.

"We can go another place!" She held a hand out, motioning towards the large market area.

"But they give you little bags of jerky for when you wait and leave!"

"What?" Zuko piped in. "You've been holding up on me?"

"Oh, please." Sokka waved him off. "All the jerky you buy is gross."

"Really? Then why do eat it all every time I buy some?"

"Because I have to make sure all of it is gross!"

"You guys!" Katara stomped. "Zuko and I saw a place we had wanted to go to dinner to. Let's just all go there." She grabbed Zuko by the wrist and pulled, giving him no chance to refuse.

The rest of the group trailed after, Sokka hanging his head in defeat as he followed.

!

Zuko gulped and wiped away the sweat from his forehead once he saw Toph sitting up straight, clearing her throat as she did so. She was about to do it. She was about to say it. She was about to tell Sokka and Aang the news. He had been informed on the way they had planned to do it before hand, but this still scared him terribly.

He was sure Sokka would be livid and he was probably going to cause a scene. He wasn't sure on how Aang would react either, even though this wasn't as direct to him as it was Sokka, he still cared about Katara and wanted the best for her. Zuko had spent some time meditating with Aang, doing some breathing exercises and sometimes the boy would even join him for physical training, but that was about it.

Zuko knew he was on rather good terms with Sokka. They joked around and got along nicely, but this was his little sister he had impregnated! Every older brother had the right to get ticked about some guy coming in and bedding their little sister.

"So, uh, it's a great thing we have these passes," Toph began. 'Oh, no'. Zuko thought, swallowing hard. He felt Katara take and squeeze his hand. She must be terribly nervous as well, it was her brother they were going to have to be dealing with.

"Yeah." Aang agreed before he took a small bite out of his Daikon Salad. Sokka's mouth was too full for him to coherently say anything.

Katara gulped. Here came the punchline.

"Especially now, since Katara is eating for two."

Zuko and Katara both tensed up, their hearts racing as they carefully watched Sokka.

He looked up from his plate and slowly but surely his chewing came to a stop. He made a noise, he must have tried to ask 'what' but his mouth was still too full for anything to be made out certainly.

"Because she's pregnant." Toph huffed out, annoying with trying to beat around the bush.

Sokka swallowed all of the food in his mouth, properly chewed or not. He glanced around the table, noticing that Aang was the only one who seemed like he hadn't known the information either.

"Oh!" He droned out as he leaned back up. "I get it! This is the prank!" He smiled and continued looking around the table, seeing that no one was laughing, all their faces were covered with a serious expression.

"It's not a prank." Katara forced out, messing with her nails beneath the table.

"But, I heard Toph saying-"

"I just said that as a cover up."

"So, wait-" Sokka paused and thought about what he had just been told, staring down at the table. When he looked back up, the anger was obvious on his face.

"Sokka," Katara began softly. "We think it's time everyone knew what happened-"

"Oh, I know what happened!" He barked out. "What- what you think- you think 'ooo Katara you're so sad and lonely here let me comfort you so I can get between your legs'!" He said frantically, lifting his hands and wiggling his fingers as if he were pretending to be some kind of monster.

"It wasn't like that!" She cried out, wanting him to calm down desperately. He slammed his fists down onto the table. Had they not gotten a private a room, he would have surely earned himself a couple of jumps and odd looks from anyone sitting around them. "Just listen," She pleaded, struggling to hold back tears. He pressed his lips together and glared at her, waiting for her to continue. "They made us!" She cried out, not knowing how to tell him faster than that.

Sokka shook his head and slammed his eyes shut before snatching up a cloth and wiping his face. "I'm done." He declared, throwing the cloth down as he stood, storming his way out of the room.

After hearing the door slam shut behind him, Toph spoke up. "Well, that went a lot better than I expected." She admitted before taking a bite out of her dinner, Iroh nodding in agreement before he took a sip of tea.

Aang looked around, seeing Iroh take a sip of tea while Zuko comforted Katara silently, wrapping an arm around her and telling of comfort into her ear.

He honestly didn't know what to think or what to do or to say. What was there to think? Or to do or to say?

It was obvious the two loved each other and he was happy for them for that, even though he still had a crush on Katara, he was happy that she was happy.

Apparently, from her words, the pirates had forced them to perform sexual acts on each other. Aang felt terrible for both of them. The monks hadn't explained to him in detail, but they had informed that one day he would find someone he loved and cared for deeply, and only then should he give himself to that person. If it did in fact happen on the pirate ship, that mean they hadn't loved each other yet, at least not the way they did now.

But at least they did love each other now, right? Even though the situation they were in wasn't exactly the most comfortable or secure, they still had each other, and he was sure that Iroh and Toph would remain by their side, helping them and supporting them along side him through thick and thin.

Sokka just needed some time to let everything sink in. It was different for him, Katara was his little sister, the one he had been told specifically by his father to protect.

Aang huffed out. 'Oh, no.' He thought to himself. Sokka had expressed to him, though vaguely, but he had expressed to him about how horrible and guilty he felt about letting Katara being taken prisoner, then the whole thing with Princess Yue happened, and now this. He knew the guilt was eating Sokka alive and he hoped he would be able to fight it off and get through this.

Katara was technically alright. She had shown great progress since she had returned to them. She wasn't as paranoid anymore and it wasn't so often that she would stop in her tracks and stare off into space. During their travels, she had began to stop waking up crying or in a sweat, or woken up Zuko with kicks and shoves.

She wasn't physically hurt, either. So that was good.

He didn't know how far along she was, she had gotten a bit thicker, but she wasn't exactly Mrs. Pregnancy Pants over there just yet. He was confident in himself, his teachings, and his group. The war would be over by the end of the summer, he would make sure of it. If she still had a few good months to go, the war would be over by the time the baby was due.

He was sure Zuko would marry her and make her his Lady. She'd have a home, a palace to be exact.

Aang bit his lip, still wondering if he should say something.

"It'll be okay." He said softly, wondering if anyone had even heard him. He took a sip of his tea, waiting for whatever was going to happen next.

!

They didn't spend too much more time at the restaurant, they had barely touched their food after everything went down.

Aang knocked on Sokka's door, telling it was him. He pressed his ear up to the door, hearing Sokka's muffled voice telling him to leave him alone. He sighed and watched as Toph knocked, telling him it was her this time and no one else. Sokka remained silent and she slowly slid the door open only enough for herself, slipping into his room and closing the door tightly behind herself.

Aang huffed and turned back around, collecting a bunch of pillows cushions to sleep on for the night, seeing as that he wasn't going to be getting into the room he had been sharing with the now troubled warrior.

He picked a spare blanket and curled up onto his make-shift mattress, thinking of the days events, only to have them shoved out by thoughts of the future. More like worries, actually.

* * *

**A/N: **Tamago is a usual Japanese breakfast and Daikon Salad can be made in many different ways, including with or without meat, so I figured that was perfect for Aang.

Please tell me what you think about this chapter!

I've always known Toph was going to tell Katara while they walked home from the spa, even though I didn't know how they were going to tell Sokka. As I was trying to figure out how I thought he would react, I came up with an alternative I almost wrote. I nearly had Toph ask Sokka about Katara being pregnant while they were eating at the steakhouse they found. Then, Sokka was going to storm out and go to house and punch Zuko in the face, yelling about how he needed to stay away from his sister and then of course everyone would be asking what was going on and then Sokka would screech about Katara being pregnant. But yeah, that didn't happen. If it did, I don't think the Big Bro/Lil' Sis scene that happens in the next chapter would be the same..


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N:** Enjoy!

* * *

**Aang** woke up to the sight of Katara standing in the archway that divided a hall from the middle room. He sat up, noticing that she had obviously not slept well the night before, if at all, with the way her eyes were glossy and puffy and tear streaks were staining her cheeks. He stood and made his way over to her, taking her gently into his arms.

"It's okay," He mumbled softly against her shoulder. "You'll be okay, he'll be okay. Everything will be okay, okay?" He asked, pulling away to look at her. She had begun crying again, but nodded to him. He smiled and pulled her back into the hug, resting his chin down onto her shoulder as he rubbed her back.

He felt numb. He didn't know whether to feel happy, worried, scared, or angry. Perhaps he was feeling all of those emotions at once, causing him to feel nothing at all.

Aang did feel happy for her. The love between her and Zuko was so obvious even a blind man could see it. She would be marrying a prince and one day have a whole nation at her feet. She was going to live in a palace, a safe and secure place to raise her baby. But, he also felt terribly worried and scared for her.

The war wasn't over, they still had a long way to go. She had always fought, she was a fighter, it was part of who she was. He knew for a fact that this knowledge of harboring a life inside her would not make her as unable or willing to fight. She had fought against an elite platoon of Fire Navy soldiers in the Northern Water Tribe, fought against Azula and her team multiple times, helped him take down a giant sea serpent, and trained with him until fatigue forced them to rest. She wasn't going to stop fighting, no matter what. But, what if because of this, something happened to her or the baby? This scared him terribly.

In all honesty, he was a bit angry as well. He has had a crush on Katara for quite some time. Even with Zuko in the picture, he felt as though he had still had a shot at being with her someday. Things happened, people drifted apart, grew tired of each other. A part deep inside him had sometimes actually wished for this to happen with the couple, so he could come in and get the girl. But knowing he had those wishes made him angry. It was a vicious cycle he had walked right into. He knew he'd find the one for him one day, but he had really hoped that someone was Katara, though now it seemed though it wasn't.

He let out a long sigh when he saw the door to their bedroom slide open. Zuko stepped out, looking as though he hadn't slept well either. Katara looked to him over her shoulder. After seeing it was him and not Iroh, she immediately jumped from Aang's arms and into his. Zuko of course wrapped his arms around her without hesitation. Aang looked up him, giving an awkward, happy, I-don't-know-what-else-to-do smile.

Katara pulled away from Zuko and wiped her eyes on the sleeve of her nightgown, slowly making her way across the living room, over to the hallway that held Sokka, Aang's, and Toph's bedrooms.

Zuko plopped down onto the cushions Aang had used as a mattress the night before. The young monk sat next to him, asking how their night went.

"She cried just about all night," He groaned out, rubbing his temples. "She's scared to death about so many different things," He sighed out. "She even considered-" He stopped and ran his fingers through his hair as he slumped over, burying his face into a pillow he had in his lap.

"Considered what?" Aang asked.

"Nothing."

!

"Sokka?" Katara called out for him softly. He was laying face down into his pillow, sprawled out over his sleeping mat, his limbs handing off the sides of it. She laid down onto the floor next to him. "Sokka," She called again, softly poking him in the shoulder. He slowly lifted his head and turned his face towards her, cracking his eyes open a bit. His eyes were all puffy and glassy. He looked as though he had been crying as well. "Will you please talk to me?" She asked, only to have him turn and bury his face back down into his pillow.

"Sokka!" She whined, tugging up on his shoulder. He groaned and shrugged her off. He continued to mumble something, but she couldn't make out what he was saying. "What?" She asked, leaning a towards him a bit. He spoke again, his words still muffled terribly by his pillow. "I have no idea what you're saying."

"It's my fault!" He breathed out, lifting his face long enough to just barely get the words out completely.

"How is it your fault?"

"I should have been awake. Had I been there, none of this would have ever happened!"

"Yeah, Sokka," She breathed out, sitting up as she did so. "None of it would have happened! I never would have fallen in love with Zuko, Aang probably would have never found a fire bending teacher and-"

"Dad told me to protect you!" He interrupted her harshly, a couple of tears escaping from his eyes, racing down his cheek. "I didn't. I failed horribly. I've never felt this terrible in my life." He admitted though his shaking voice, looking down back at the damp pillow below his face. "I'm so sorry, Katara."

"Sokka," She said sternly. "Don't be." She sniffed and huffed, trying to keep herself composed. "Please don't." She begged. "Please don't feel guilty or sad or angry about this. I love Zuko, I really, really do. He loves me." She took in a deep breath before continuing. "Aang is going to get to learn firebending from the Great General Iroh, the Dragon of the West, one of the most powerful firebenders," She heard Sokka let out a growl. She knew he knew exactly what she was doing.

She was telling details about everyone to make the situation seem far better than it actually was to make him feel better. She knew him too well, it was proving effective, he could literally feel the weight of the terrible emotions he had felt lift off his shoulders. "Zuko is going to teach him how to use dual swords, too. When Zuko and I marry and he becomes Fire Lord after the war, you'll be directly related to the Fire Lady!" He turned and faced her. She pursed her lips, holding back a smile. "You'll be the uncle of the heir to the Fire Throne. Maybe I'll even let you teach him how to use a boomerang."

"But, what if..." He trailed off into thought before continuing. "-wait, you'll let me teach him how to use a boomerang?" He asked, his voice a lot more joyful than it had earlier.

Katara smiled greatly. She knew that would get him. "Well," She shrugged. "I'd probably have to speak to Zuko about it first, seeing at that it is his baby, too."

Sokka huffed and folded his arms under his pillow, propping himself up with his elbows. He continued to stare down towards the pillow, but his sister could see the wheels turning in his mind. He was thinking things through, trying to see how everything would end up to be like, he was coming to terms with everything. She hoped he was forgiving himself along with all of this.

He turned and looked at her, his eyes still filled with sorrow, but he did have a small smile on his face. "I love you, little sis."

"And I love you, big bro." She smiled, leaning over to catch him in her arms, taking him into a big hug.

He let out a big sigh of relief and patted her on the back. "Can I..." He paused. She pulled away to face him. "Feel your tummy?" She tilted her head, thinking about it. Of course he could, but she hadn't felt anything, not a movement, a shift, a kick, or anything. At least not yet.

"I guess," She said, laying down onto her back, smoothing the fabric of her gown over her slightly swollen stomach. "But I doubt you'll feel a kick or anything."

Sokka huffed and tensed, as if he were bracing himself for an impact. He slowly lifted his hand before gently placing it down onto her stomach. They sat there in silence for a couple of minutes before Katara finally asked if he felt anything. "No." He admitted. He lifted his brow and leaned over her. "Are you sure you're pregnant?"

She laughed. "Toph told me!" She smiled up at him. "If she can see an ant hill a few yards away, I'm sure she can see a baby inside me." She shrugged as she sat up, keeping her eyes on him.

"Can she tell if it's a boy or a girl yet?"

"She called it a him when she told me about how she could see him. So I guess he's a boy." She shrugged.

They stood up simultaneously, Katara wiping the wrinkles out of her dress as Sokka fixed his robe. She sighed and looked up to him. "What are you going to do when you see Zuko?"

He sighed and slowly began making his way over to his door. "Congratulate him, I guess." He mumbled, slowly opening the sliding door to his and Aang's room.

Katara watched in the archway of the hall as Sokka calmly strode over to Zuko, holding his hand to him, even though the firebenders face was still down into a pillow. Aang nudged him with his elbow and motioned towards the warrior. Zuko looked up to him, shocked to see him standing there.

Slowly, Zuko lifted his hand, surprised to have Sokka grab him by the forearm. "Congratulations." He said flatly. Zuko remained silent, just staring at him. Sokka nodded, letting him know that it was sincere, and that everything between them was fine. They had gotten long well before the news and they would continue getting along after it.

The day went along pretty smoothly. Breakfast was a bit awkward between everyone to be honest, but by the time they were all ready for lunch the air was so clear around everyone and everything that they even joked about what to name the baby, Sokka insisting they name it after him or 'Boomer', after his trusty boomerang.

Toph teased Sokka, telling him that he was never going to have any kids if he was going to be insisting his wife that they name their baby after a weapon. Sokka scoffed and stated that Boomerang was more than just a weapon, telling her that Boomerang was trustworthy and faithful, always getting a job done well and coming right back after.

They laughed and spoke about plans of the future, always assuring each other that everything would work out and would be just fine. Then the subject of the Earth King came up, seeing as that the party was the closest event coming up in their future.

They spoke about it on the way back to the house, figuring that they would probably have to start getting ready right when they made it there if they wanted to get to the party on time.

!

Sokka fixed the sash on his robe as he examined himself in the mirror.

"Since this is the King's party, do you guys think we're going to have to be all proper and stuff if we want to speak with him right away?" He asked, tying his hair up with a green band instead of his usual black or dark blue.

"Of course." Zuko said, patting aftershave onto his cheeks. "We'll have to be proper with everyone if we want to make a good impression."

"Bleh," Sokka stuck his tongue out, waving Zuko off. "I don't care about everyone else!"

"Maybe he's right," Aang paused and pulled on a light yellow cape over his robes. "Sir Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe. Perhaps the Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation is correct! We should stay on our best behavior," Sokka held back a snicker from Aang's posh accent. "To easily gain the public's approval." He concluded, holding a finger over his lip as if he had a fancy mustache.

Sokka stood up straight and cleared his throat. "Why, Avatar Aang, don't be silly! You're the Avatar, the people must give you their utmost respect without hesitation! Unless of course, they are foolish and fear not the mighty wrath of the all powerful," He paused, raising up on his tip toes and holding his hands out over his head, wriggling his fingers around. "Avatar State!" He shook his voice as if he were telling a spooky story to a bunch of little kids.

Zuko groaned and rubbed his temple with the palm of his hand. "You guys have to be careful and remember to call Uncle and I by our fake names."

"Why of course," Aang bowed. "Master Swordsman Lee," He turned, noticing Iroh stepping out from the hall, draped in fancy clothing. "And Master Tea Brewer Mushi."

Iroh smiled. "Avatar Aang." He bowed, putting on his own take of the posh accent.

They all laughed, and Zuko paused suddenly, noticing a door slide open, the two girls standing on the other side.

"Wow," Aang breathed out, his eyes darting between both girls.

Zuko smiled and glided over to Katara, taking her into his arms. "You look beautiful!" He exclaimed, pulling away to examine her at a closer distance.

She had painted her face with makeup and pulled her hair back in the way she had for the dinner the night before, but this time she had the tie placed a little higher, a fake, large white flower could be visible by looking at her face to face, the rest of her gorgeous brown hair cascaded over her shoulders and a little ways down her back. Her dress was three different shades of blue, with details of what looked like to be waves around the trimmings.

"Thank you! You look quite handsome yourself!" She said, tugging on the sleeve of his dark green, silk robe. The gold trimmings, buttons, and details brought attention to his amber eyes that literally looked as if they were glowing like a flame against a dark background.

"Alright you two love birds," Toph teased. "Let's get going all ready."

Aang smiled and held his arm out for her to take it, but she had already taken onto Sokka's as they made their way out the door. He played this off by lifting his cap and running his other hand over his bald head, as if he were making sure he had shaved properly.

!

They weren't sure if they should go straight to the front, being the Avatar and his company and all, but they waited in line to be sure, not wanting to be rude and set a bad example for themselves before they even made it into the gates. They had already had their deal of trouble with getting a chance to speak with the King and they didn't want anymore.

Finally, they came up to the guard who was checking invitations, holding out their passes to him.

"The Avatar and his personal company?" He lifted his brow before examining them. Aang lifted his cap, showing off his arrow proudly. "I see," He said lowly. The guard turned to his left, calling for an agent that had been stationed near by. "This is the Avatar and his company," He informed sternly. "You will escort them in." The agent nodded once and turned, making his way into the palace.

The agent stuck close them the whole time, much to their annoyance and frustration.

Sokka huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "So, when do we get to speak with the Earth King?" He asked. The agent remained silent. "Hello?" Sokka asked, waving his hand in front of the mans face. "Hello? Anyone there? We have important information about the war. We need to speak with the Earth King!"

While Sokka continued to push buttons, ranting on about how they had to see the King, Aang felt someone nudging his arm. He turned and saw Iroh standing there, eyes focused on something else hidden within the sea of people before them.

"What?" The young monk asked. Iroh nudged him again and motioned forwards, out towards the crowd of people. Aang looked around, but still didn't see what Iroh was seeing, at least he didn't think he did. "I don't get it." He admitted.

Iroh groaned and placed a hand on Aang's shoulder, pressing him forwards a bit. "The girl," He said lowly, through gritted teeth. Aang furrowed his brow and looked back towards the crowed. Then, a couple of people shifted and walked away, showing Toph standing alone in the midst of the party. Aang gulped and looked back towards the old general. Iroh pressed him forwards harder and motioned for him get moving. "Go." He insisted, giving the young boy one final push, sending him stumbling forwards a bit.

Aang caught his footing and stopped just before he crashed into the earthbender.

"Watch it, twinkletoes." She warned, seeing that he had just barely came to a halt to avoid slamming right into her.

"Hey, Toph." He choked out, suddenly overcome with nervousness. "Uh," He paused and looked around as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Where's, uh, Zuko and Katara?"

"I don't know." She shrugged, uninterested or concerned with their whereabouts. For all she knew, they could be hidden behind some curtains, practicing for when they wanted another baby.

"Oh," He sighed out. He pressed his lips together and gulped before speaking again. "Uh, Toph, I know you probably don't care, but you look really beautiful tonight." He smiled and made sure to straighten his back. But then he let out a gasp, realizing she would probably take this as if she usually didn't look beautiful, which she did, of course. "I- I mean, n-not that you don't look pretty all the time, just-uh-" He stammered over his words, pausing when he saw her face him.

She turned her face towards him and blinked. "Really?" She asked honestly, not even a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"Yeah!" Aang assured, rising onto his toes for a split second.

She turned her face away from again, her eyes darting around, as if she were examining the other girls in the room, comparing herself to them even though she couldn't actually see them. Slowly, she turned to face him again. "Thanks."

Aang studied her face. She was looking at him as if she were expecting him to say something else, but he had no clue as to what that was supposed to be, or even if she was looking at him like that purposely, so he stood and rocked between his toes and his heels awkwardly in silence with her.

!

"Are gatherings like this back at the Fire Nation?" Katara asked Zuko softly, making sure no one was within earshot.

"Yes, but they're usually outside, and usually the host would have already made an appearance." He growled the last part, annoyed with not having spotted any sign of the Earth King since they had gotten there.

"Well, maybe he has and we missed it." She said sweetly, amused with his frustration. She stood up tall and placed a small kiss onto his lips. "I'm going to go get a moshi dumpling, would you like one?" He shook his head, only to have her narrow her eyes at him.

"I'll try some later." He assured, giving her a small smile of assurance. She sighed as she turned to go make her way over to the sample table.

Zuko turned and looked over his shoulder at the sound of giggles coming from behind him. A group of young women, possibly even of teen age, approached him, all struggling to hold back their smiles.

"Hello," One greeted, while the two others giggled from behind her. "Are you one of the ones in company of the Avatar?" She asked, taking a step towards him.

"Yes." He nodded once. This was weird. He knew common courtesy and manners, but he didn't know Earth Kingdom etiquette at all. He was sure it was rude to be speaking with someone without being properly greeted or introduced first, and even ruder to begin the conversation by asking a question that could very well be considered as personal or confidential.

"Oh! What are you having the honor of teaching him?" She asked, swaying closer towards him a bit. His patience was beginning to wear thin, and he furrowed his brow at her. He wasn't even sure of this group of girls were even supposed to be in here. Perhaps the King had yet to marry and they had originally came to try and get a chance of wooing him, but spotted Zuko instead, much to his annoyance.

"Broadswords." He stated quickly and harshly.

Now, had he been in the Fire Nation, he was sure the person would have picked up on or even taken the hint right then and there. Speaking to someone in such a manner would bring the conversation to an immediate, without a hesitation end right then and there. But apparently, here the Earth Kingdom, that was not the way things worked, and he flinched back when she advanced towards him.

"Speaking of broad," She smirked, taking his shoulder into her hand, giving a small squeeze. "Look at these shoulders." She giggled, glancing over her shoulder to the pair of girls, who fell into a small fit of giggles after her, covering their lips with their fingers. She began to run her hand down his shoulder and onto his arm. "Ooo, you're very well built, aren't you?" She asked, leaning towards him.

Zuko let out a sound of disgust and yanked his arm away from her. "And very much engaged as well!" He growled, thrilled to see Katara approaching out of the corner of his eye. She wrapped her arms around his arm and scoffed at the trio of girls, who all held an expression of pure shock showing straight through their painted faces. As the couple began to walk away, Katara looked towards them over her shoulder and stuck her tongue out, making a face at them. She faced forwards again and smirked at the sounds of their dismay.

"Zuko," She paused, stopping in her tracks. "Where is the group?" She asked, glancing around. She felt him being torn from her gasp before she pulled back into the shadows.

!

"Why won't you let us speak with the Earth King!" Sokka barked, pointing towards the man that had taken a seat in front of them. "We have information that could defeat the Fire Nation!"

The man, Long Feng, went on a rant about how the Earth King did not have time to get involved with the troubles the politics and military brought forward. He assured the group that King was mostly concerned with the culture heritage of Ba Sing Se and that it was his job to oversee the rest of the city's resources, which of course, included the military. Toph pointed out that the King was just a puppet, much to Long Feng's surprise.

"Oh, no!" He assured. "He's an icon! He can't sully his hands hourly changes of an endless war."

Sokka stepped forwards, insisting the man that they had found information about a solar eclipse that rendered the Fire Nation defenseless, going on to tell him that they could plan an invasion, only to have Long Feng stand, telling him sternly that it was enough. Sokka was literally taken aback and returned to his place between Iroh and Toph.

"I don't want to hear about your ridiculous plan. It is of strict policy that the war not be mentioned within the walls..." The group remained silent as he went on to tell them about how the constant news and gossip of an on going war, seemingly never ending war, would bring the citizens to a state of panic, bringing the whole city down into havoc along with them. He says, with no one speaking of the war, Ba Sing Se remains to be the last peaceful place on earth.

"I'll tell them!" Aang announced. "I'll tell everyone!"

Long Feng approached him, leaning over him. "You had been welcomed into the city and invited to the party as honored guests, but now, you will be considered as a threat, and will be watched carefully day in and day out. I warn you, if you speak of the war to anyone, you will be expelled from the city. I understand you have been looking for your bison. It would be a shame if you were unable to complete your task."

He ordered for Joo Dee to come and escort them home. Much to their surprise, another lady who was not Joo Dee came into the room.

"What happened to Joo Dee?" Katara asked, knowing this was not the same person as before.

"I am Joo Dee. I will be your honored host as long as you are here." The woman smiled and turned, beginning to escort them out.

!

"The printer finished our order of posters!" Aang exclaimed as soon as he got the front door open. He plucked a flier from his bag and held it out for everyone to see.

"Wow," Sokka took the paper from the young monks hand, examining the painting of the bison. "This looks just like him! Doesn't it, To-..ph."

"It sure does!" She exclaimed, making a face as she waved her hand over her unseeing eyes.

"Right, sorry."

"Let me see." Zuko said, lifting the paper from Sokka's hand. "Wow, such detail with just a description."

"Yeah!" Aang took the paper back, shoving it back into his bag. "Let's go put these around town!"

The group left and made their out into the streets, hanging fliers on just about ever surface they could, not a wall in the city would be left without one.

"You guys keep putting them on the walls," Aang said, readying his glider. "I'm going to fly over and drop these around to cover even more ground. You guys should split up, too. We'll meet up here when we all run out." He took off up into the air, a flier falling from the bag every now and then.

Sokka and Toph went off together while Zuko, Katara, and Iroh set off into the opposite direction.

Aang was flying about, nearly out of fliers when he saw something white headed towards him. It was Momo. The lemur swooped down and made a quick turn to be able to fly closely next to his owner. He chattered and chirped frantically.

"What is it, buddy?" Aang asked, a wave of concern crashing over him.

Momo screeched and began to descend. Aang followed, landing gently onto his feet. "What is it?" Aang repeated, watching carefully as Momo scurried up his side to perch himself up onto his shoulder, holding his arm out in front of the boys face. Aang let out a gasp, realizing what was tied around the lemurs wrist. It was a bundle of thick, white fur that could easily be recognized as Appa. "Is this Appa's fur!" He asked, untying it from Momo's arm to get a better look at it.

Aang rubbed the fur between his fingers. "It is Appa's! Where did you find this, Momo?" Momo chattered and jumped up into the air, taking off into flight. Aang took off after him without a hesitation.

The lemur guided him to a clearing surrounded by a cluster of houses. Aang landed and immediately noticed the large foot print left in a small pile of dirt.

"Appa," He breathed out, tears beginning to well up in his eyes. He turned and looked up, scanning the sky for any sign of him. "Where are you?"

He sniffled and readied his glider again. "Come on, Momo. Let's go meet up with the others."

By the time Aang made it back to the street they had started at, the rest of the group was already there, waiting for him.

"You guys!" He called out before he even landed. "Look at this!" He said, holding his hand out just as his feet touched the ground. "It's gotta be Appa's! Momo showed it to me! He's here you guys!"

They passed the wad of fur around, each of them agreeing that it had belonged to the missing sky bison. Just as they began to set off in search of him again, they heard a familiar voice calling out for Aang.

"There you are, Avatar Aang! I've been searching everywhere for you." It was Joo Dee. The actual Joo Dee, the one they had met when they had first gotten into the city.

"Joo Dee?" Sokka asked, turning around to face her. "What happened to you?"

"I went on a short vacation to Lake Laogai. It's a beautiful place located in the country side. Nothing to worry about." She assured.

"Oh. So, what do you want?"

Joo Dee smiled and held up one of the posters they had hung up everywhere. "Without proper clearance, you are not allowed to be dropping fliers and hanging up posters within the city."

"We can't wait around all the time for permission!" Sokka argued.

"You are forbidden by the rules of the city to continue doing this."

Aang stepped in front of Sokka, absolutely fuming. "We are not waiting months for someone to tell us what we can and can not do! We're finding Appa on our own! Stay out of our way!" He yelled at her as he snatched the paper from her hand.

He turned abruptly and began stomping down the streets, making his way back to the house, the group following not far behind.

They plopped down onto the stairs, unsure of where to begin looking.

"If I were a bison," Iroh mumbled, stroking his goatee. "Where would I be in the middle of a giant city?"

"Hey!" Sokka piped up. "Didn't Joo Dee say she went to some lake in the country side?"

"Yeah," Aang groaned out, kicking at the dirt on the ground in front of him.

"Well, think about it, you guys! A lake, that's plenty of water for him to drink. The country side, away from all the people, the city! Plenty of grass for him to eat, lots of room to fly around in! It's the perfect place for him to be! We should look there!" Sokka held his hands out by his side as he stood, glancing around at the rest of the group.

"Sokka is right, Aang." Katara said, gently placing a hand on the trouble boys shoulder. "Lets go look."

!

"Hm," Sokka crossed his arms over his chest as he looked around the vast landscape, no sign of Appa anywhere. "I don't see him." He admitted as he continued to scan the hills.

"Uh, you guys," Toph called out, getting their attention. "I think you should see this." She jutted her arms upwards, a sliver of land coming up from under the water. "It's a tunnel. It leads to a whole bunch of underground rooms," She paused and stomped, attempting to get a better look. "There's a bunch of people in a bunch of different rooms. A couple of the rooms are really big, but I can't make them out all the way."

"What are you trying to say? That we go look down there?" Aang asked, walking up to her side.

"What if someone found him and hid him down there?"

"What? Why would they?"

"This place is full of weirdo's, Aang. Why would they not?" She used her earthbending to open up the entrance of the tunnel and began making her way down, the rest of the group following her.

"She's got a point." Zuko said as he passed by Aang, who was still standing there.

Just before Aang began to follow, he heard Sokka's voice call out.

"Wait!" He shouted, holding an arm out in front of his sister. "You probably shouldn't go down there, Katara." He suggested, shaking his head as he spoke.

"What!" She protested, furrowing her brow and placing her hands onto her hips. "Why not!"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe because you are carrying my nephew inside you!" He screeched, holding his arms out by his sides.

Katara growled and lifted up a wave of water to seep him off his feet, him landing flat on his back onto the stone ground. "I can still fight!"

"I don't know," Zuko admitted softly as he made he way back over to them, placing an arm loosely around the waterbenders waist as he held a hand out to Sokka, helping him back up to his feet. "We're probably going to be dealing with a bunch of earthbenders, and they usually like to go for the gut."

Katara's jaw dropped after hearing this from. Iroh placed a hand gently onto her shoulder and assured her that he would stay out on the lake's shore with her if that was what she would like. She growled and stomped back back to the shore, plopping down onto the sand as she crossed her arms over her chest, an angry pout upon her face.

"I can't believe this!" She yelled out to them, glaring at them all as they turned back towards the opening of the tunnel.

Iroh let out a small chuckle as he made his way over to her. "You do need to stay safe, Katara. You are carrying very precious cargo, after all."

She let out huff as she began to claw at the sand before her. She nearly sprang back up and went to the tunnel despite what everyone else thought, but she figured they were right. She'd sit out this time, but she would be sure to not let them make a habit out of making her stay at the sidelines.

The rest of the group made their way down the tunnel and cautiously made their way through the halls, peeking into a few of the doors that were cracked open. Sokka furrowed his brow at the sight of a bunch of women, all speaking in unison after a man told them what to say.

"You're right," He whispered into Toph ear after he took a couple of long strides to reach her side. "This place is weird."

They continued pressing forward carefully, silently making their way down the hall. They came across a large set of doors and figured the room should be plenty big enough to hold the bison. Toph bent the doors open as the others went in before her.

"It's empty." Sokka pointed out. "Let's go check another room." He suggested he turned back towards his door, making his way out.

Just before he stepped out, the door slid shut in his face.

"Toph!" He gasped, taking a step back. "You nearly cut my nose off!"

"That wasn't me."

"If it wasn't you than who-..." He trailed off, tilting his head upwards as green crystals began to glow, illuminating the room. He breath caught in his throat at the sight of Long Feng standing in the mouth of an open pipe.

"You're not going anywhere." He growled out, scowling down at the group. "You have made yourselves enemy of the state. Take them into custody."

A group of Dai Li agents literally fell from the ceiling and immediately began attacking the group. Toph stepped forward without hesitation, taking a few them out with ease.

Sokka turn his back towards her, aiming his boomerang at the man directly in front of him. As she took out the men behind him, he took out the men from behind her.

Aang airbent a couple of men off to the side, cutting a pass so he could advance towards Long Feng. "You have Appa, don't you!" He accused, pointing a finger at the man before him. Before he could answer, if was even planning to, an agent sent two fists of rock towards the young monk, sending him crashing down to the ground onto his side.

Aang tired his best to wiggle out of the earth cage he had been placed under, but it was no use. They had managed to bend his hands and feet down, rendering him unable to earth and waterbend. He watched as Long Feng stepped around him easily, using the distraction the Dai Li caused against the rest of the group to his advantage.

"Guys!" Aang called out, finally able to bend his hands out of the earth now that Long Feng nor the agents were paying attention to him. "Long Feng left!" He free'd his legs and noticed something white fall out of his pocket.

His bison whistle! This placed was lined with pipes. The whistle would be able through to probably every room in this place, and if Appa answered, his reply would be heard as well.

The airbender took in a deep breath of air before using the whistle with all his might. He listened carefully, and was thrilled to hear a muffled cry of his bison traveling through the pipes in response.

The group easily bested the Dai Li agents and bolted out the door.

Toph jumped up into the air, flipping before slamming her bare feet down onto the group, sending out the biggest wave of vibration she could produce.

"I see him!" She exclaimed, pointing into the direction they needed to go.

They came to see an open door, Long Feng struggling to get his leg out of the bison's mouth.

Aang laughed, seeing a hole in the wall. Long Feng was going to try get Appa to go through the tunnel.

"If there's one thing you need to know about him," Aang began, announcing his presence to the man. Long Feng gasped and looked at him over his shoulder, shocked to see him standing there along with his group. Aang shifted over towards Toph, silently letting her know that he was about to need her help. "It's that he hates being under ground!" He shouted, thrusting his arms out over him.

As he bent a tunnel through the ground Toph bent them up on pillar, following Aang's path through the ground and eventually water, leaving them stranded in the middle of the lake. As the two earthbenders had done that, Zuko had used his dual swords to break the chain's around the bison's ankles.

As soon as they were above ground and water, Appa tossed Long Feng out far into the water, lifting up into the air the second everyone was on his back. Aang guided him back over to the shore to retrieve Katara and Iroh.

"We should head straight for the palace!" Sokka suggested, clinching onto Appa's fur as they flew without a saddle.

"Oh, I don't know, Sokka," Katara mocked him from before. "There might be earthbenders there!"

He groaned and narrowed his eyes at her. "We have to get this information to the Earth King! We have to get to him before that crazy Long Feng guy does!"

!

"Why are they firing at us!" Sokka screeched, ducking down just before a boulder made contact with his face. "There's no way Long Feng could have warned him about us in that small amount of time!"

"You can't just show up to a palace unannounced and expect to be treated like an honored guest!" Iroh informed, holding onto patches of fur for dear life.

Aang deflected the boulders of rock easily and had Appa land just in front of the stairs that led up to the grand hall of the palace.

"Fly to the roof or something, stay out of their line of fire!" Aang patted Appa's head before allowing the bison to take of, easily swerving through the maze of flying boulders that were sent his way.

Toph flattened the stairs, every palace guard sliding down to ground level as she and Aang used a lift to bring them to the top.

"We don't want to fight!" Zuko shouted out, dropping his swords down in front of him, showing the group of guards before him. "We're with the Avatar."

"Why have you come here unannounced!" One of them asked, standing still in his stance.

"We request a private audience with the King at once. We have urgent and confidential information for him and him alone."

"All requests must be processed and-"

"We haven't got the time!" Sokka stepped forward, his machete and club still at hand. Of course, the guards took this as a threat and bent a wave of rock towards them.

Aang and Toph immediately stepped forward, breaking the wave and sending their own towards the small group of men, sending them flying back.

They continued forward, running their way through halls until they came a cross a set of very large, extravagant doors.

"That's gotta be the throne room." Zuko pointed out, examining the doors before him.

Toph bent the doors open before anymore guards had the chance to show up.

Zuko and Iroh both shot looks towards the rest of the group, and Zuko smacked the water down that Katara had held out in front of her.

"We want to speak with him, not attack him." He growled through clinched teeth. "You don't show up in the throne room with weapons raised!"

"We need to talk to you!" Aang called out, lowering his staff to his side.

"Speak with him, not talk." Zuko corrected lowly. Sokka rolled his eyes at him. Was now really the time to be all formal and prissy?

The King stood, an obvious scowl plastered across his face.

"You have invaded my palace, injured an amount of my royal guards, broke down my fancy doors, and now you want to waste my time by talking to me?"

Aang narrowed his eyes and shifted over to the two royals to his right. They were running out of time, Long Feng was sure to arrive at any moment. They had to do this fast, and the only ones who could really actually properly speak to King with the swiftness and ease they needed were Iroh and Zuko.

"No, sir." Iroh spoke up, feeling the awkward tension begin to rise into the air between them. "We wish to speak with you of a very important matter."

Kuei hummed, keeping his eyes narrowed as he sat back down.

"I suppose of it's so important that you feel the need to so abruptly show up, it's serious enough to speak with you now about whatever the subject may be."

Just as everyone was taking an inhale of good air, it turned stale at the very last moment. Long Feng glided into the room from the side, stopping in front of the King, a row of Dai Li agents standing in front of him.

"You can't speak with them!" He growled out before flinching at the sound of his own words. His tone was terribly harsh and frantic.

"Why ever not?"

"They're trying to over throw you, sir!" Long Feng pointed towards them, silently ordering the agents to bend stone cuffs around their wrists.

Zuko scoffed. "Well, that's stupid. He's the Avatar, he can just earthbend out of these."

Kuei lifted a brow and scanned the row people in front of him before settling his focus on Sokka. "You're the Avatar?"

"No, him." The Water Tribe warrior informed simply, nodding over toward Aang, who bent the rock away from him long enough to be able to raise his hand, waving towards the King.

"Now, why would the Avatar want to overthrow me?" Kuei asked, lacing his fingers together over his lap as he looked over to Long Feng.

"Because he's not the Avatar," Long Feng huffed. "He's just a regular earthbender posing as the Avatar to get into your palace so he can take you down with ease."

"Oh really?" Zuko asked, tilting his head to the side. "Does 'just a regular earthbender' have the ability to also air and waterbend?"

Aang smirked and bent himself free of the rock cuffs again and bent them into a model of the bear sitting by the King side before he hopped up into the air, onto one of his air scooters as he tried his best to seep some water from the air. He managed to get a small blob of it, he hadn't had as much experience with it as Katara had, but he was still successful in proving the fact that he was the Avatar.

"No, I suppose he doesn't." Kuei paused, glaring over at Long Feng before bringing a softer gaze over to the boy in front of him. "Now, what is it that you wish to speak to me about?"

Aang fell from his perch atop his air scooter and took a couple steps towards the King before he began to inform them about how they had information that could defeat the Fire Nation and bring an end to the hundred-year war. He went on to also tell the King about how Long Feng and the Dai Li agents had kept this from him to control him and the city.

"That is a complete and utter lie, your majesty!"

Kuei lowered his head in thought for a few moments before he slowly looked towards Long Feng. "If you are going to lie to me about something as small as a boy's identity, how do I have reason to believe that you wouldn't lie to me about something as big as a century long war?"

Aang's face and shoulders fell, he had picked up hints of hurt in the Kings voice. He had thought that Long Feng was his most loyal and trustworthy adviser.

"Are you seriously about to listen to a group strangers instead of someone you've known and trusted for years?" Long Feng breathed out, pain in his voice as well, as if he had been hurt that the King would accuse him of doing such things.

"If you need more proof," Sokka began, taking a step forward. "We have it. All you have to do is come with us and see if for yourself."

Much to Long Feng's dismay, the King agreed and went off the group, having them released of their stone cuffs before hand, of course.

They went to the outer ring first and presented the drill to him.

Kuei looked over the railing, waves of terrible feelings crashing over him. Pain, humility, sorrow. He couldn't believe that this had been kept from him for so long. So long that his wall had nearly been broken into. According to the group, one general had already done this once, but left on his own terms. He gulped, terrified with the though having an army of men barging into his palace, his home and taking him away and locking him into a cell, or even killing him there on the spot. Or worse, coming into his walls, into his land of peace, only to bring horror and destruction to his people.

They all turned, hearing the earth shift not too far from them. It was Long Feng and a pair of agents by his side. Before he could even speak, the King stepped towards him, pointing his forefinger at him.

"How dare you!" He growled out. "How dare you show your face to me so boldly after what you have done! After the crimes you have committed against not only me, but all of my people and my entire nation!"

"Sir-"

"Agents! Arrest him!" The agents had a moment of obvious hesitation, but continued to follow orders and take the man before them into custody.

!

They had returned to the palace before King Kuei expressed that he was thankful towards the group for opening his eyes and showing him the truth, even though he truly didn't want to believe that they were at war. Sokka stepped forward and informed him that had been the reason they came to the city in first place and that they felt that they had found information that could possibly end the war with his help.

They told the King about the Day of Black Sun and how that was the day that they needed to invade the Fire Nation. After a little bit more assurance and encouragement, Kuei expressed that they had his support.

A man stepped into the room and bowed before the King, expressing a small apology about his interruption before he informed them that they had searched Long Feng's office and found documents that were sure to interest everyone.

They made their into the library where he showed them letters that Long Feng had intercepted.

Toph had a letter from her mother, Aang had a scroll that had been tied to Appa's horn, while Sokka and Katara had an intelligence report on their father's fleet.

After reading the letter's they sadly realized that they were going to have to split up.

The letter Aang had gotten was from a guru that said he could teach him how to master the Avatar State, but he was all the way in the Eastern Air Temple. Hakoda and his fleet were at Chameleon Bay, Toph's mother was off in the city, and someone still needed to stay and help the King plan for the invasion.

Zuko expressed that he would continue avoided their father for a while, the group laughing at his obvious nerves about meeting his girlfriend's father. Iroh knew he'd be of aid to the King and his plans, so he would stay back as well. Katara, though she wanted to see her father terribly, still felt like she wasn't mentally stable enough to leave Zuko's side for a long period of time, especially if they were going to be staying in a Bay, and she figured it would be best of she stayed behind as well.

They all said their goodbye's and wished each other luck before Aang and Sokka took off on Appa, Toph went off out into the city, and Katara, Zuko, and Iroh made their way back into the palace.

* * *

**A/N**: Hope you enjoyed! Leave a review, tell me what you think!


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N:** Enjoy!

* * *

**Katara** took the last sip of her tea before she handed the cup over to Zuko, telling him that she needed to go give some information to the Earth King.

"Alright. Let him know that Uncle and I will be there to discuss it with him as soon as our shift is over." He smiled and leaned down to place a small kiss atop her head before she turned and left, waving as she went out the door, telling him that she would.

Katara had been in a meeting with the Council of Five, the Earth Kings most highest ranking Generals. Iroh- Mushi had informed them that he would let his boss know he wouldn't be able to make it work for the next couple of days before he met with them so his boss wouldn't think he had just up and left or disappeared. 'Jr' had even agree'd to help his uncle during his final shift. The Council of Five had one small meeting that Katara figured she would go to so the plans wouldn't be held back any by Mushi's absence. The waterbender strode into the palace, happy to see three girls draped in Kyoshi Warrior attire. She figured that it had must be Suki and two others.

"Hey, Suki!" She greeted, waving to her. "It's good to see you! You'll never believe-..." Katara paused and slowed her steps, noticing that none of the girls face structures or hairstyles were like Suki's. "The news we have..." She stopped completely, realizing that these were not Kyoshi Warriors she knew. One of them jumped up and immediately struck Katara in one of her pressure points, bringing her down to her side in a matter of seconds.

"Well, if it isn't the Avatar's little girlfriend," Katara gasped, placing the voice with the face before the person even stepped into her line of sight. It was Princess Azula standing right over her, smirking in triumph.

"What should we do with her?" Ty Lee asked.

"Take her to-"

"There she is!" A mans voice called out from the side. Katara shifted her eyes as the trio of girls looked over their shoulders to a small group of Dai Li agent's approaching them. "We need to speak with you." The same man said, placing a hand on Azula's shoulder.

Katara gulped as she watch them begin to walk away. She didn't know if she should yell or scream or what. They must have seen her laying on the floor like that. Perhaps they thought she tripped or something? Did they know what was up? Did they know that she wasn't a Kyoshi Warrior? What on earth was going on? She moaned as she felt herself being pushed up. She looked over her shoulder to see Mai there lifting her.

"You stay here and watch the bear." She ordered to Ty Lee, who smiled and nodded as she scratched the tame beast under it's chin. "I'll take care of her."

Mai lifted Katara up and wrapped her own arm over the waterbenders waist as she made her put an arm over her shoulder before she had them begin making their way down one of the halls of the palace. Katara stumbled, but was finally beginning to gain control over her limbs again as Mai glanced around the hall, making sure no one was around.

"Where's Zuko?" She whispered, still having to support Katara up.

"He's at a tea shop with his Uncle. They're supposed to be here soon."

Mai huffed and shook Katara's arm off her shoulder and allowed her to begin walking on her own. "Is it far?" Katara shook her head. "I have to take you to the catacombs under the palace. I'll keep an eye out for him and take him to you as soon as he gets here." She spotted an agent and called out for him, telling him that she had a prisoner as she took Katara by the wrists, pulling her arms behind her back. "Struggle." She ordered into her ear, to make the situation look more real.

"Mai," Katara whispered as she tugged forward, making it look like she was trying to pull away. "Thank you."

"Yeah?" She asked, pulling back hard on Katara, causing her to crash back into her. "If you hurt him, I'll kill you." Katara tensed up and gulped. The agent shouldn't be fooled, she was sure she looked plenty scared now, because she was. Mai had obvious seen her reaction, a noise that actually sounded like a small laugh escaped from her lips.

!

Mai was just making her way out to the front of the palace when she saw the Avatar's sky bison landing beside two hooded figures. She figured they must be Iroh and Zuko still trying to keep a low profile. She took in a deep breath, calming herself for what she was about to. She wanted to run to Zuko and hug him, but she knew she couldn't. She took long, calm strides over to them, setting her face to stone as she listened carefully to their conversation.

"Aang said he had some vision of Katara and Toph in trouble, so he came back to get us, but we found Toph making her way back to the Palace just fine, so-" The boy in blue paused and looked over his shoulder towards her after he noticed the confused, angered expression Zuko put on his face after spotting Mai coming towards them. "Hey!" The Water Tribe boy called out, waving to her. She narrowed her eyes, confused as to why he would greet her in such a way. "Is Suki around?" He asked. Oh, that's right, she's still covered the Kyoshi Warriors attire. She stopped a couple feet away from them and kept silent as she looked over to Zuko. She could see him tense up and snarl beneath his hooded robe.

"Azula is going to overthrow the Earth King." She droned her words out, as if they were something she had gotten tired of practicing. "I'll take you to that girl."

"Whoa, whoa!" Sokka cried out, holding his hands up. "Where's Suki!" He growled, leaning towards Mai as he pointed a figure towards her. "What's going on!"

She snarled and turned away from him, walking into the direction of the catacombs. "Come on, I have to get back before Azula does or they'll know something's up." The annoyance in Mai's tone was obvious.

"Where is she?" Zuko asked, following closely behind her as the group began to make their way towards the Palace building.

"I don't know," She shrugged. "A couple of Dai Li agents said they needed to speak with her and she left with them. Ty Lee is watching the King's bear."

"I meant Katara." Zuko growled at her through clinched teeth, irritated with how simple she was making the situation out to be. His girlfriend and mother-to-be of his son was being held prisoner by his crazy sister while his ex-girlfriend, who was probably very much in love with him, and he may or may not still have feelings for her, was taking them to her even though they could all be spotted by the Dai Li agents, who were now apparently working with Azula, which would result in their capture and most likely all but the Avatar's death. This situation is one that should not be taken lightly by anyone!

"In some catacombs under the palace. The Avatar can tunnel down to them without being seen." She informed him of this simply, she still seemed to be completely unfazed by everything that was going on at the moment

"Wait." Aang called out suddenly, stopping in his tracks. "How do we know this isn't some kind of a trap? How can we trust you?"

Mai sighed. "Betraying people just get's easier the more you do it. Doesn't it Zuko?" She asked, looking at him over her shoulder.

"I didn't betray you!" He growled through clinched teeth, leaning towards her a bit.

She shrugged and continued walking, taking them to the side of the palace and pointing to the spot she figured could get them to the catacombs the fastest. She couldn't take them to exact spot where the Dai Li had opened the tunnel to the makeshift prison cell under the ground, they were keeping it well patrolled under Azula's order, so they'd have to start here if they wanted a chance at getting to the waterbender without being spotted.

"Wait, we can't just sit back and watch as the Earth Kingdom falls!" Sokka protested, putting a had on Aang's shoulder to stop him after he had begun tunneling down in the spot Mai had pointed towards.

"Well what do we do? Go save the Earth King or Katara?" Aang asked, annoyed that Sokka had tried to stop them from getting to Katara.

"Both." Sokka stated flatly. He then went on to suggest that Aang, Iroh and Zuko go down and get Katara while him and Toph went to go warn the Earth King about Azula.

"You guys will have to wait until I get there first. I'm already taking way too long." Mai shifted towards the palace, picturing Azula and Ty Lee sending out agents in search for her, only to find her here helping the Avatar, which would of course result in her being seen as a traitor to the Fire Nation, and she honestly did not want to think about, or know what the consequences for that would be. Sokka nodded and motioned for her to go ahead and go, assuring her as she walked away that him and Toph would be there shortly, he also joked, telling her to go easy on them with the knives and daggers. He heard her scoff as he watched her shake her head at his words.

Aang continued tunneling, Iroh and Zuko both holding a flame in their palm to light the way. It took them a little bit, but they eventually came to what looked to be a large, underground court yard with a waterfall in the far back with connected, decorative canals of water. Even though it seemed as though they had no idea where to look now, Aang smiled and slammed a foot down into the ground, having his first try at the seismic sense without Toph present. He couldn't see far, but he had been able to detect a small clearing to the side he figured Katara was being held in. They made their way over and Aang manged break through the stone wall with a single earthbending movement.

"Zuko!" He heard Katara cry out, immediately jumping on the young firebender and wrapping her arms around his neck. "Did Mai help you guys, too?" She asked, pulling away from him a bit to look at him. He nodded and Aang suggested that they go ahead and try to catch up with Toph and Sokka as he began making his way back through the tunnel he had made earlier. Katara turned to follow him, but Zuko reached out and grabbed her by her arm before she could leave.

"What?" She asked, twirling around to face him.

"I have an idea." He admitted, his amber eyes staring intensely into her blue ones. She furrowed her brow at him, silently asking him what it could possibly be. "Do you trust me?" She nodded and saw him swallow hard. He let out a huff and tried to keep himself from shaking too hard. "I'm going to show myself to Azula."

"What!" Katara and Iroh gasped in unison.

Zuko laced his fingers with Katara's and brought her hands up to his mouth, planting a light kiss onto her skin before he continued. "You have to trust me."

"But, the eclipse, the invasion- I don't understand what you're doing!" Katara argued as she tried to pull away from him.

"What if that doesn't work? What then?" He paused and waited for her try and answer. Of course, she stayed silent. "We can meet up somewhere when the invasion happens. I'll tell you where every man is stationed-" He paused and looked around the catacombs, hearing the earth around them begin to shift. He turned back to Katara and continued, worry beginning to seep into his features. "You have to trust me, okay?" She nodded. "I'm doing this for you."

"I know it, but-" She was still confused, unsure of what exactly he was planning on doing. He interrupted before she could ask anymore questions.

"I love you."

"I love you, too." There was a shake in her voice as she told him this, and she even flinched back as he leaned down to kiss her before he turned her around and pushed her into the tunnels direction. She hesitated, still unsure, but she heard another shift in the rock and knew it must be the Dai Li, probably accompanied by Azula, so she made her way through the tunnel as she ran towards Aang, who was a pretty good ways away from her in the courtyard now.

Zuko snatched Iroh up by his wrist and pulled him behind a bunch of crystals. Just in time, too. A couple of agent's and Azula busted through the walls right after they had settled behind their cover, out of the agents and her sight.

"They must be through there." They heard her say. They waited until they were sure she was gone before they stood and peeped out from behind the crystals.

"I take it you've got more than just that planned out?" Iroh asked, raising a brow at his nephew.

Zuko nodded his head. "Of course."

"I see. So, what if that plan doesn't work and they found that we've been lying?"

"We die."

Iroh shot a look towards Zuko, before his face unscrunched and he allowed a small smile to form across his lips. Zuko had planned out what was going to happen if everything went his way, and he had obviously thought about the plan enough to know how everything could turn out if something took a sudden turn for the worse.

"You're finally beginning to think thing's through." Iroh said softly. "I'm proud of you." He admitted, lightly patting him on the back before he turned towards him to begin telling him the details of his plan.

!

"Aang!" Katara called as he bolted in his direction, having to run fast to catch up with him.

"What?" He asked, glancing in her direction over his shoulder as he continued to run towards the tunnel that lead out of the catacombs.

"You have to trust Zuko, okay?" She huffed, reaching out to land a hand on his shoulder, stopping him from running away from her any further.

"What?" He asked, turning to face her.

"You have to-" She yelped, barely jumping out of the line of blue fire that had been sent her way. Aang furrowed his brow and snarled at the fire before him. The anger and confusion was obvious on his face as he looked back up to Katara. "Trust him!" She shouted at him as she turned around and began to collect water from a small canal for a wave she planned to send Azula's way. She of course used her firebending to turn the water to steam, disappearing into the fog. Aang stepped towards Katara as he glanced around, looking out for Azula to pop out of the could at any moment.

"What's going on?" He growled out. Before she could answer him, Azula jumped out from behind the cover of the steam cloud and sent a couple of fire blasts their way. Simultaneously, Aang and Katara lifted up an arch of water to shield themselves from the fire.

Azula landed on a stone pillar. Aang used this to his advantage and broke it down, leaving her no choice but to land between him and the waterbender. She stood with her arms stretched out, fingers pointed at both of them, glancing between the two to see which one would act first. None of them had the time, though. A fire blast landed right between them all.

"Zuko!" Aang and Azula both gasped, surprised to see him there.

"You're alive!" She breathed out, her arms lowering a bit for a split second before she caught herself, shifting back into her stance as she glanced between Aang and Katara, letting them know that she was still aware of them before she returned her focus back towards her brother. Aang turned his face slowly towards Katara with a scowl. She lifted her brows and nodded once, silently telling him that there was nothing to worry about.

"Don't tell me you actually care," He heard Zuko call out towards Azula. Aang turned back around to face him just in time to dodge a fire blast he had sent his way.

"What are you doing!" Aang shouted out as he sent a large gust of wind towards Zuko. He dodged it easily and placed a finger over his lips, telling the monk to be quiet. Aang snarled and used his airbending to lift himself up to the ceiling, splitting one of the stalactites in half with his earthbending to jam it down into the ground, knocking Zuko back into some of the crystals.

Zuko recovered quickly and saw Katara getting the better of Azula, using her waterbending to lift her into the air. Zuko smiled, figuring Katara was probably the only person on earth who could compare to his sister when it came to their skill of bending. He broke the water binds Katara had on Azula with some firebending. They spotted Aang crawling out from the crater he had created. Zuko motioned for Azula to handle him while he shifted into a stance towards Katara.

After Zuko focused on her feet and broke her balance, Katara rolled over onto her back and smiled up at him as he stood over her still in a stance. He opened his mouth as if he were about to speak, but he was cut off when he heard the earth shifting terribly. Azula had gotten the better of Aang somehow, but only for a moment. He bolted towards them on a wave of earth.

Zuko ran over to Azula's side, shifting into a stance beside her after a platoon of Dai Li agents had entered the catacombs and knocked Aang off his wave. He watched as Aang glanced around, realizing that he and Katara had been far outnumbered and outmatched. He bit his lip before he turned away from them and sat as he bent the crystals into a small tent around him.

"What is he doing?" Zuko heard Azula ask, obviously confused by the situation as well. He then let out a gasp, suddenly remembering that Aang had gone to see a guru to master the Avatar State.

"He's going into the Avatar State!" He cried out frantically, honestly pretty frightened by what kind of power the kid may have and use wisely now that he would actually know what he was doing and be fully aware of his actions while possessed. Zuko hadn't the time to explain his plan to him and he was sure Katara hadn't either. Aang probably thought that he had betrayed him. Zuko gulped, he was sure he was going to be the main target of the Avatar's wrath.

"Perfect." Azula hissed as she left his side, much to his surprise and confusion.

Everyone watched as the Avatar lifted from the ground, only to be shot down by a bolt of lightening. No one had the chance to move before a wave of water crashed over them all. Zuko rubbed his temple and looked up to see Katara holding a limp Aang in her arms. Before either of them could say anything, a wall of rock came up between them. It was Toph standing on a ledge, Sokka and Iroh pretending to fight not too far from her side.

Toph held off the agent's while Katara used her waterbending to lift her and Aang up a waterfall, out of the catacombs. As soon as they were gone, Sokka grabbed her by the arm, letting her know it was time to go. Toph closed the tunnels opening and used her bending to shift the rock beneath their feet, escaping quickly before any of the agent's could act.

!

"So, all this time," Azula began, speaking softly as she crossed a leg lazily over the other, getting comfortable in her new throne, the one that had once belonged to the Earth King's. "You've been alive." Zuko and Iroh nodded in unison. "Doing what?" She asked through a light laugh.

"Waiting," Zuko answered. "For the perfect moment to strike."

"So clever," Azula laced her fingers together and lifted them to her chin in thought. "Father will be thrilled." She smiled and beamed over to her brother and uncle. "Would like some tea before we begin to prepare for the trip back home?"

**! Weeks Later !**

Aang woke from his sleep with a groan, pain searing throughout his entire body. He slowly opened his eyes, noticing the metal ceiling above him and the metal walls adorned with Fire Nation decor around him. He gasped and sat up, immediately regretting doing so, a sudden wave of light-headedness crashing onto him. He groaned and placed a hand on his temple, waiting for the wooziness to subside before he slowly stood up, a bolt of pain striking him in the chest.

He slowly turned the wheel on the door, slowly peeking through the small opening. He grabbed his staff and began to make his way through the halls as steadily and quietly as he could, having to pause and lean against the wall every now and then, waiting for the woozy feeling to leave him. The young monk continued forwards down the hall, pressing through his pain and ache. Aang took a second to calm down before he made his ways up the stairs and onto the deck.

"Momo?" He asked, surprised to see the lemur allowing one of the soldiers to pet him. Actually, Aang was surprised to see the lemur at all.

"Twinkletoes! That's gotta be you!" Aang looked to his left as Toph and Katara made their way over to him.

"Aang, you're awake!" The waterbender wrapped her arms lightly around his neck, gently giving him a hug. The young Avatar was confused out of his mind, he felt as though he was dreaming, and had absolutely no idea as to why everyone was dressed in complete Fire Nation garb, even Sokka was fully covered with the metal armor, a helmet with a face piece and all. Aang let out a small groan as began to fall backwards, overwhelmed with both pain and confusion.

!

Zuko stood alone on the ship, forearms resting on the railing. He slowly lifted his gaze from the water and up the full moon above him, slowly letting out a soft sigh.

"Yue," He called softly, barely above a whisper, but before he could continue on with his plea to the great moon spirit, a voice called out from behind him.

"Aren't you cold?" It was Mai. She came up and stood beside him. He lowered his gaze from the moon and stared straight off into the distance. He did not want to be seeing her right now. In fact, he didn't want to be seeing anyone right now.

"You do realize what I'm doing, don't you?" He asked coldly, ignoring her gaze, making sure to keep his face stone and voice flat, no emotion. He could see her face and shoulders fall out of the corners of his eyes. He wondered how she was feeling and what she was thinking about all of this.

She sighed and placed her arms on the metal railing, leaning over, looking down into the dark abyss below them. "I have a hunch." She breathed out. There were a couple reasons Zuko would be returning to the Fire Nation. One, to learn what his father's war strategies were and what he was planning on doing next. Two, to take his place on the throne. Her and him both knew it was for the first reason. "You know, if they find out, your-"

"Punishment will fit my crime." He interrupted and finished her sentence harshly. He did not want to be thinking about what would happen if someone where to find out what he had done, what he was currently in the process of doing. If he were to be killed, the group would never get the information they need, Katara would be left alone.

She would be left alone to raise their son on her own, in a world engulfed by flames of hate. If she were to be captured as someone who aided the Avatar, she would probably be killed despite her pregnancy. "But so would yours." He reminded Mai. Everyone whom had helped the Avatar would probably be killed, and that included her. Aang would be kept alive, but just barely. He didn't want to be thinking about those things. At all.

"You really love that girl, don't you?" Mai asked softly, remembering that his new motivation was that waterbender girl he traveled with. Zuko remained emotionless, his face set in stone, his eyes focused on the horizon in the far off distance. He simply nodded once, silently giving her the answer. She huffed and turned around, leaning up against the railing, using her elbows to prop herself up. "You know, if we don't act like we're still together and all happy to see each other, especially since you're supposed to be back from the dead, Azula will think something is up."

"I'm very well aware of that issue." He said, his lips barely opening up far enough for the words to escape his lips properly.

She huffed again before biting her lip, raking her brain for the words to say next. "Well, don't you think we should-"

"Azula isn't out here." He said quickly, cutting down her hopes of getting any sort of affection from him as of now. She let out a sigh and scooted over to him, resting her cheek on the back of her shoulder. She knew he probably didn't approve or want even a small touch like this, but she knew the princess was probably up in the wheel house, peering down at them from the window, watching the actions between the two supposed to be lovebirds carefully, for anything she deemed as odd.

"I've missed you terribly, Zuko." She admitted softly, tilting her chin upwards to be able to look at him. He turned and opened an arm up, allowing her slide into the open space in front of him. He placed his hands on the railing, one either side of her as he leaned dangerously close to her.

"Is Azula in the wheelhouse?" He asked quietly, his voice barely above a whisper, as if somehow his sister would be able to hear him asking about her whereabouts. Mai shifted her eyes upwards towards the tower of the superstructure, Azula's silhouette darkening a patch of the orange glow the torch somewhere behind her in the room gave off. Mai nodded, informing him silently that she was.

She gasped, her eyes widening in shock, caught off-guard and surprised when Zuko swooped down to catch her lips in his. She slowly eased down and relaxed as she closed her eyes and kissed him back softly. He wrapped an arm around her back as he used his free hand to cup her cheek into his palm, continuing to kiss her slowly. Zuko put both arms around her and lifted her up onto the side railing of the ship, resting a hand on her hip after she balanced and settled.

She pulled away for a second for air before she smiled and blushed. Kissing was something he had most definitely gotten better at. She nearly rolled her eyes and scoffed, the thought of him practicing with that waterbender annoying her, but before her facial expression could change, Zuko leaned back down to kiss her again.

He pressed into her too far, causing her to tip over the edge. She let out a loud yelp, honestly believing that she was about to fall into the water. She gasped and gripped Zuko's shoulders, realizing, thanking Agni, that he had kept an arm around her and caught her. She hissed at the sound of him laughing. She did not think that was very funny. At all!

"I've got you." He assured her after finishing his laughing. He leaned back down as if he were about to kiss her again, but then in the last second, he suddenly tensed up and glared at her. She furrowed her brow at him, surely he couldn't be mad about what had just happened, he had obviously thought it was funny. He couldn't be mad at her for kissing him back, could he? He had been the one who started it! She wanted to sink back, away from him, with the way he was staring at her in such a intense way, but she held her ground and stared straight back at him.

"She's pregnant." He informed boldly and swiftly, ignoring the shock that appeared on her face. "I'm going to marry her." Mai was stunned and had to force herself to tilt her head downwards, away from his piercing gaze. She couldn't breathe and she struggled to keep her tears to herself. She tore away from him and pressed pass him, making sure she took short, calm strides as she made her way back into the superstructure of the ship, leaving him alone on the deck.

She let out a growl as she slammed the side of her fist into the steel wall of the hallway she was trekking down. She couldn't believe him, kissing her like that, giving her hope, then just snatching it all away in one, swift movement. What was it? Seven words? No, the first two hadn't mattered, she didn't care, it was the last five that had ripped her heart out. 'I'm going to marry her' banged up against her ear drums repeatedly. It hadn't been her he was speaking about, he wasn't going to marry her. Oh, no. He was going to marry that little waterbending tramp!

Why would he do something like that? He had just been hugging her- kissing her! She let out a huff, figuring it had just been a show for Azula, but with how far away she was and how close he had gotten to her, it probably looked like they had been kissing before. Maybe- Mai let out another huff as she slammed her door shut before she plopped down onto her bed. Maybe he had actually wanted to kiss her? Maybe he had to stop, maybe he had to blurt out that news in order to remind himself of his situation? She wasn't sure as to why he had done it, but she knew it hurt her terribly.

She cursed at him, even though he was long out of ear-shot. How dare he toy with her like that? Stand there and be all cute with her and then tell her such heartbreaking news! She wanted to cry and sob and curl up into a ball underneath the covers and stay like that forever, but she knew Azula would probably come down any minuet to ask about how things were going with Zuko. Mai growled his name under her breath. She wanted to hate him. She wanted to hate all that he's done and what he's doing, who he's been, who he is and who he's becoming. But she couldn't, she just couldn't, and she was really beginning to hate herself for it.

!

"I don't understand this," Aang admitted as he looked around at everyone around him. "Why are we on a Fire Nation ship? Why are you all dressed that way? Why am I the only who is out of it?" He asked, motioning inwards with his hands towards himself.

"There's a lot that happened, Aang," Katara held her hands up, motioning for him to calm down. "Take it easy, you got hurt pretty bad. You were out for a few weeks..." She trailed off at the sound of footsteps coming towards her.

"Everything okay?" Hakoda asked.

Katara hummed as she nodded, letting him know everything was fine.

He turned towards Aang and held his hand out to him. "Hello, Avatar Aang, I'm Hakoda, Sokka and Katara's father." He greeted with a nice smile on his face.

"I nice to officially meet you, Chief Hakoda." Aang smiled up at him and held his arm out. Hakoda took him by the forearm, expressing that it was honor to meet him. "I'd - ah!" Aang kneeled over, a sharp pain stabbing him suddenly in the side before he could tell the warrior that he was interested in hearing more stories of his adventures. Sokka had already told him about his father would play pranks on everyone in the village with his good friend Bato in their younger years. Aang had honestly been disappointed when there hadn't been an actual prank war back in Ba Sing Se and had wanted to get some ideas from Hakoda, especially ones he could use against Sokka.

Katara let out a small sigh and gently placed a hand onto his shoulder, telling that it do him good if they had another healing session. The wounded monk nodded and allowed her to pull him up and help support him as he wobbled down the halls and up the stairs of the ship to get back to his room.

She had him face away from her as he sat down in front of her. She summoned up water from two bowls placed on either side of him and covered her hands, gently placing the water on the wound that marred the middle of his back. Katara asked him to tell her where his pain was most intense. Aang groaned and told her it was little higher than the spot she had been focusing on.

"I can feel a lot of energy twisted up around there," She breathed out as she slowly began to pull the water away from him. Just as the last of it left his skin, he let out a terrible gasp and arched his back away from her. Katara gasped, fingertips lightly covering her lips as she watched over him cautiously. He gasped for air and ran his fingers through his new head of hair as he spoke frantically.

"I didn't just get 'hurt pretty badly'! It was far worse than that... I was... gone." He breathed out, trying to catch his breath. Katara furrowed her brow with worry as she leaned clover to him, gently placing a hand on his shoulder again. "You brought me back... to life."

"You should thank Zuko, he's the one who told me to save the spirit water for something drastic. I had wanted to heal his scar," She admitted, shrugging a bit. "You can thank him later, you need to rest." She said, trying to keep the shake in her voice under control and undetectable. Not only was she worried about Aang, she was terribly worried and fearful for Zuko. Aang nodded before leaning back into the bed, falling into a much needed cat nap.

!

"Now the hero's have returned home!" Li and Lo yelled out the crowed below them, knowing the people of the Fire Nation would be stunned with the information they were about to be told. "Your princess, Azula!" The Fire Princess causally stepped out of the fire and made her way smoothly over to the railing of the balcony she stood on.

"And back from the thought to be dead, your Fire Prince and heir to the Fire Lord's throne, Zuko!" Zuko stepped out, no expression on his unfazed face. He took simple strides over to his sister, standing beside as her as he kept the overwhelming feeling covered with stone as he looked over the railing, down the rows and rows of people below him. He couldn't believe just how loud the fire citizens were shouting for him, far louder than they had for Azula. He wanted to smirk. He had them fooled for months, and he was now in the process of fooling them even farther. He wasn't exactly on 'their side' just yet.

!

"We've seen a few Fire Navy ships, but none have bothered us." Sokka informed, holding up a map to point out where they were to Aang.

"Yeah, and we haven't seen any pirates ships, either." Katara smiled, pounds of worry off her shoulders. Aang ignored her statement and kept his focus on Sokka, asking him what had happened and what the new plan was. Sokka informed him that after what had happened, they flew back to Chameleon Bay and found Hakoda and his fleet. The bay was soon over ran with Fire Navy vessels, but instead of attacking them all and losing terribly, they took one over and made it their disguise, leaving them able to hide in plain sight. Since they took control of the ship, they had been traveling west and had just made it through the Serpent's Pass a few days before he woke up.

As for the new plan, it was just a modified version of the original invasion plan. Instead of having the support of the Earth Army, they were going to gather up a rag tag team of their friends and allies they had made from around the Earth Kingdom through their travels. Sokka smirked and shrugged, stating that the eclipse wasn't even their greatest advantage. He hid his mouth with his hand and leaned over towards Aang, whispering to him that he was the secret and that the whole world had thought he was dead, exclaiming that no one from the Fire Nation would be chasing after them anymore.

"Speaking of the Fire Nation," Aang growled as he glared over to Katara, memories of what had happened beginning to flood to him. "Zuko attacked me in Ba Sing Se!" He yelled at her, leaning over towards her. She furrowed her brows and glared right back at him.

"Aang, there's a lot that happened you don't know about. Zuko did not attack you!"

"Yes he did!" He stood and leaned over her. "He did this to me! This is his fault! He betrayed us!" He shouted, waving his arms out the best he could without causing himself too much discomfort or pain. Katara slammed her bowl of noodles down onto the steal deck of the ship and stomped as she stood up, being tall enough to lean over him a bit, putting him in a submissive position now.

"No! He didn't!" She growled, getting dangerously close to him. "Azula shot you with lightening," She yelled as she pointed towards the monk. "Azula did that to you! He did not betray us! You have no idea what he's doing right now!" She sliced the air horizontally with her hand before continuing. "How dare you accuse him like that, Aang!"

"What is he doing? Where is he, then!" He shouted at her as he stretched up, matching her height.

"He's in the Fire Nation, getting information on what the Fire Lord plans to do with the war."

"What! He's probably there living it up right now, telling the Fire Lord where we are! All he's wanted to do his get back home, he betrayed us to get back home. He betrayed you!" He yelled, putting emphasis on the 'you' as he pointed towards her.

"Aang," Sokka warned, feeling the anger radiating off his little sister.

"What!" He barked, turning to face him. Sokka opened his mouth to speak, but before he could get any words out, Aang continued speaking. "You know Zuko did it, don't you? You know he betrayed us! Say it!" He yelled, pointing towards him. Sokka narrowed his eyes at Aang. He was being terribly ignorant and Sokka knew Aang still had a crush on Katara, he was trying to pin Zuko as the bad guy, unknowing just what that young man was literally putting his life on the line for Katara, for them all, for the whole world.

Sokka leaned towards him and smacked his hand away from him. "Aang, you have no idea what Zuko is putting down on the line for us right now." He said lowly, carefully watching his temper. "If anyone were to find out that he had been helping you, and lied about being dead to be able to do it," Sokka paused and bit his lip, knowing Katara did not want to hear the words that were about to come from his mouth. He huffed, but continued anyways. "His punishment would fit his crime. You know he would never betray us or Katara like that."

Aang groaned and shook his head. "He betrayed the whole Fire Nation! Why would he not betray Katara!" The last sentence confirmed Sokka's belief that the main reason Aang was going off like this against Zuko was because he still wanted a shot at getting with Katara. He wasn't angry or hurt that Zuko had betrayed them, it wasn't about them, it was about him hurting Katara. Aang was trying to turn this all around on Zuko, making it seem as though Katara was the main one he betrayed in Ba Sing Se.

Sokka began to literally shake with anger. He stood on his tip toes and clinched his fists as he took a small step towards the young monk before him. "You know very well why he would never betray Katara, Aang!" He leaned over towards him, knowing the only way the twelve year old was going to match his height is if he stood on something. "You've just woken up after weeks of being unconscious! How about you let us explain to you what happened before you start accusing people of doing terrible, outrageous things everyone knows they would never do!"

Aang huffed and eased up as he slowly brought his gaze up to the waterbenders blue eyes. Her face was still covered in a layer of anger, but hints of other emotions such as fear, worry, and hurt seeped through the mask. "What is he doing?" He whispered softly in defeat, staring down at the steel deck of the ship.

Katara shifted her weight onto one leg as she crossed her arms over her chest. She glared at Aang as she cocked her head towards him, silently telling Sokka to tell Aang what was going on with Zuko.

"Zuko came up with a plan that he would reveal himself in front of his sister in Ba Sing Se. He'd say that he had been in hiding, waiting for the perfect moment to strike against you. He's going to tell his father that he kept secret about surviving the explosion to take the pressure of time off his shoulders while he waited for you. He's going to say that when he saw Azula, he knew that was when he needed to show himself and take his final act against you. While he's in the Fire Nation, he's going to find out as much about his father's plans for the war as he can. Then, after the invasion, he's going to meet with us at a rendezvous point we've agreed on. The eclipse still isn't for a while, you have plenty of time to heal and he has plenty of time to gather information."

Aang narrowed his eyes. "This sounds more like a back up plan than a plan."

Sokka shrugged. "Well, yeah. It's kind of the plan and the back up plan all wrapped into one. When we attack the Fire Nation on Black Sun, he'll meet us the spot and tell us what we have to look out for, making the cut to the capitol city easier than it already will be. But, if... you know, things were to go wrong, we still have a spot to meet up with him so he can join us again."

"And if his father were to find out he's on our side, the Fire Lord would have him killed?" Sokka ignored the rising tension and nodded. Aang sighed and turned towards Katara. "I'm sorry, I-"

"Tell it to Zuko when you see him!" She said, waving him off as she turned away from him. "Because you will be seeing him!" She stormed off into the superstructure of the ship, making her way to her room.

!

"Sokka," Hakoda called, finally finding his son on the stern deck of the ship. The young warrior was leaning over the side, his forearms resting on the rail. He turned his head and looked towards his father, who was now making his way towards him.

"Hey, dad." He greeted, giving a small wave before turning his attention back to the ocean, the moon's refection shining brightly in the water.

"I need to ask you something," He informed, stopping a few feet away from his son. "It's about Katara." Sokka raised his brow and looked at Hakoda through the corners of his eyes.

"Sure," He shrugged, giving the okay to ask.

"Why is she so paranoid about pirate ships? And worried about this 'Zuko' fellow? Isn't he the Fire Lord's son?" Sokka gasped and stood straight, turning towards his father, shock covering his face. He huffed and turned, hunching back over the side of the ship, resting his forearms on the railing again as he looked down into the ocean below him. Hakoda furrowed his brow and took a couple steps forwards, leaning over, resting his right forearm on the metal railing as he crossed a foot over the other.

Sokka sighed and slowly looked towards his father before quickly returning his gaze to the deep blue water of the night. "Well," He started slowly, refusing to meet his father's gaze. "It's not exactly my story to tell, but... I'll tell you," He paused and turned his face took stare Hakoda in the eye. "But you can't tell her I told you, you can't let her know you know what happened." Hakoda scowled, but nodded, a wave of concern crashing over him. Sokka huffed and slouched even more, resting his chin on one of his arms. "I don't know the details of what happened- and I don't want to, but I know that when Katara found Aang and I, she had changed."

"What do you mean?" Hakoda asked calmly as he leaned over more, trying to get his son to look at him while he spoke. Sokka turned and glanced at him before bringing his gaze to the steel floor.

"She became so paranoid, and never left Zuko's side. She never let him out of her sight, and he wouldn't let her out of his. He'd wake up before everyone, but lay there still for hours until she woke. They were both irritable, and very touchy about certain subjects. And, apparently, when they were held prisoner on the pirates ship together," Sokka's voice caught in his throat. He bit his lip and turned away from his father, struggling to hold back his shakes and tears. "They-" He tried.

"What?" Hakoda breathed out, leaning towards his son.

"They," He swallowed hard and lifted his arm to quickly wipe away a tear. "They used them for entertainment." He said lowly, ashamed that he would ever have to tell his father this information, ashamed that he would ever allow anyone to use his baby sister in such a disgraceful way.

"What!" Hakoda growled, standing up straight in shock. Sokka turned around to face father, boldly showing him his tears.

Sokka breathed out heavily, trying not to completely break down as he held his arms and hands out to his side. "You're gunna be a grandpop, dad!" He breathed a nervous, angry laugh as his shoulders shook and his hands clapped against his upper legs. "And am gunna be an uncle!" He squeaked out, having a hard time admitting this.

Hakoda stood, eyes wide and jaw dropped as he watched Sokka's facial expressions. Turning from an angry disgust to plain angry, to pain, to pure sorrow as his face twisted and tears fell from his eyes as he slouched down a bit, taking in a big breath. "I'm so sorry!" He admitted, no longer holding back his shakes. "I didn't protect her, dad! I didn't protect her, I could have been there to stop it! I should have been awake, I could have protected her but I didn't!" He sobbed and began to kneel over. Hakoda caught his boy in his arms and held him, allowing him to cry into his shoulder. "I'm so sorry. It's my fault. I didn't protect her. I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, Katara." Hakoda bit his lip and held his son tighter as he shook in his arms.

Sokka took in a sudden gasp of air and pushed himself out of his father's arms. Taking a step back as he huffed and straightened as he clinched his fist and stared at his father, forcing his sobs to come to a halt. "Iroh says, 'were there is shadow, there is light'." Hakoda wasn't sure if Sokka was telling this to him, or to himself.

"She loves him, dad." Sokka paused and took in a deep breath after hearing the terrible shake in his own voice. "And he loves her. They're happy together. And," He paused again, an odd squeak escaping his throat. "When they marry, she'll get to be Fire Lady," Sokka huffed and swallowed hard. "I mean, how cool is that?" He asked, shrugging with one shoulder. Hakoda stood and watched. This was something Sokka was trying to convince himself in order to ease his guilt.

* * *

**A/N: **Our poor babies! Sokka! He's still having trouble accepting what happened. Mai! She just can't let go, she just can't hate him, she loves him way too much.. I feel this kind of ended on an awkward note, but I hope you guys enjoyed anyways! Leave a review, tell me what you think!

I already had most of this chapter done before hand, so I figured, why wait? Next chapter is a freaking doozy! 10,000+ and I'm still probably going to add and change things...


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N:** Enjoy!

* * *

"**Prince** Zuko," Ozai dragged the words out as if they were something he had never heard before, as if they belonged to some foreign language, instead of being his son's title and name. Perhaps it was because he hadn't spoken of him often, he may have not even said his name since his banishment, which was now a little over three years ago.

Zuko was currently kneeling in front of him while he stayed seated on his throne. It had been years since he had last seen his son and had honestly believed that he had died a failure, but as it turned out, Zuko had fooled the whole world and used his fake death to his advantage, to the Fire Nation's advantage.

"You have redeemed yourself in the most cleverest of ways. Welcome home, my son." Zuko looked up to see his father now standing before him. He turned, and began circling him. "I'm very impressed," He hissed. "You waited for your prey to come to you. I am also very proud that you remained loyal to your nation, even though you could have easily of stayed hidden and free of the pressures that had been placed upon your shoulders. I am proudest of all, of your most legendary accomplishment. You slayed the Avatar." Ozai paused, standing behind his son as he praised him for his actions.

"What have you been informed of?" Zuko said flatly, dully, almost as if he was bored. Ozai scrunched his face up after hearing his son's tone, but he figured this was the one he had chosen to use during such formal situations. So no one could read him, figure out what he was thinking, figure him out. Normally, this would be of concern, had he not been who he is, but if Zuko was going to take the position of Fire Lord one day, he would need this to use as an advantage against people, war generals on his side or not, that could tell what he was going to think before he even thought to think it, using this to their advantage and plan ahead of him. It was best that Zuko show no emotion through verbal or facial expression.

Ozai was honestly impressed. Zuko had shown great improvements. He had obviously learned to only speak when spoken to, and to get straight to the point when speaking, as to not waste the Fire Lord's time. Zuko was not the same foolish boy he had been before he went into banishment, he had returned home evolved into a cunning young man.

"Azula has told me everything. She said she was amazed by your actions."

!

Zuko busted into his sisters room, despite how late it was getting into the night, even though he was sure she would be sleeping by now.

"Why did you tell father that I was the one who killed the Avatar?" He growled out, taking long strides to reach the side of the bed she was sleeping on.

Azula cracked an eye open, surprised to see him standing right before her. She had expected to see him snarling, scowling down at her from the end of her bed. She had to hold back a flinch, being caught off guard at the sight of him standing right at the side of the bed she had been sleeping on, his hands held behind his back, an unreadable expression on his face. He had obviously composed himself and gained control over his temper in the matter of mere seconds it took him to stride over to her side.

She sighed and shifted down further into the mattress. "You had already done so much. I figured why not just add nice little cherry on top for you?" She asked simply, the tone in her voice suggesting that she honestly figured she had done nothing wrong.

Zuko knew better by now. He knew Azula and he knew exactly what she was doing. He knew she had a hunch that Aang hadn't died, and when he showed up alive, all of that 'frosting to top the cake' would melt away, and it would seem as though Zuko had been the fool, not her. He held back a huff of air, that would have been a mix of a sigh of annoyance and a laugh of slight amusement. After all these years, she hadn't changed a bit. She was still that same conniving little brat she had been when they were younger, she hadn't grown or matured. He found it funny, though, that he had. She was too busy underestimating him to realize it. He found it just too funny that she still thought he was the soft, naive little boy he had been. Oh, no, he was much more than that now, and she had no idea who she was dealing with anymore. For once, finally, he had the upper hand against her.

"Oh really?" He asked, a condescending tone in his voice.

"Yes," She huffed out, annoyed and irritated, having picked up on his tone. She sat up and looked at him with an honest expression on her face. "It doesn't matter that you didn't capture the Avatar. He's dead." She spat out the last words and glared at him before a smirk grew across her face, her eyes narrowing slyly. "Unless of course, there was some way he survived?" Turning her cheek towards him and lifting a hand to inspect her well manicured nails.

Zuko narrowed his eyes at her and tilted his head a bit to the side. "Really? You believe that?" He asked, his own voice still dripping with the same condescending tone she used against others so often. Zuko smirked, he could swear that he could literally see the tables turning between them, finally, after seeing the look on her face as she slowly turned back to look at him.

"You're a prodigy," With the way the words oozed from his mouth, the way he had taken a sharp intake of breath before speaking, it was as if he had stolen their father's voice and was speaking with it now. The way he sounded just like him was so eerie, it gave her goosebumps. "A master in your skill with ease. You're the one who shot him down. Are you doubting yourself?" He asked, leaning towards her a bit.

Azula was taken back. She blinked, before scrunching her face and pouting at him. "No." She paused, trying so hard to read him.

"You know," He breathed out, his voice slowly becoming his own again as he shifted and lifted his chin up, smirking as he looked down at her. "Being out a sea for three years can do things to you," He dragged his words out, making sure she was listening. "The things you see, the things you go through, the things you're forced to do," He hissed at the word 'force'. "It can put you under some serious mental turmoil."

He paused and lifted his hand as he flexed his fingers, a small, bright little beat of fire flickering just over his finger tips, every now and then a crackling pop would sound and a spark would spring out over his hand and fade out just before it landed onto the covers of Azula's bed. "Due to this turmoil, I am unable to produce lightening." He extinguished the flame and brought his hand up to his chin, slowly clawing at the little hairs that had grown since his last shave that morning. "Now, wouldn't it be just a shame if father were to become aware of this?"

Azula took a long, calming intake of air, keeping her eyes locked on his, determined to show him that she had not been fazed by his threat. "Some waterbenders have healing abilities-"

"You can't revive the dead." He interrupted harshly, leaning further towards her. "He's gone. We won." He finished gravely, and with that, he straightened up and strode out of her room silently, leaving her shocked, bewildered, and honestly, somewhat impressed. She actually let out a small laughed and she turned and pressed her back up against the headboard of her bed, pulling her covers up more into her lap. So, it turned out her and Zuko were of relation after all. Seemed as thought he had finally grown out of that soft, pathetic little personality he used to have and changed, matured into a man that actually resembled their father, not just in the physical sense, but mental as well.

!

"How are you doing, Prince Zuko?" Iroh asked as he sipped his tea. Zuko huffed and plopped down onto the couch of his uncles private sitting room.

"I'm so scared and worried for her. For all of them." Zuko groaned and ran his fingers through his loose hair. He was having a hard time dealing with everything that had happened. He knew before they even left Ba Sing Se that being away from Katara for the weeks that were until the eclipse happened would be hard, but he didn't know it would be this tormenting, or this hard trying to keep it all hidden under that stupid expressionless, made of stone mask he'd have to put on every time he was with someone other than his uncle. Sometimes Mai, but hardly, in order to keep his suppressed feelings for her at bay he needed to keep up those walls. All of the switching back and forth drained him of his energy so terribly, but of course, with all of his issues, he couldn't sleep at night even while on the verge of absolute physical and mental exhaustion.

On the voyage home, even on a Royal Barge he was still terribly horrified and paranoid about pirates coming abroad and snatching him up again. He had seen Katara escape, but he had no idea as to where she went after she had gotten out of his sight. He didn't known where she was or if she was safe and it drove him to near madness, not being able to send or receive messages, at least not until he was in a place where knew they would not be intercepted and only he would get them. He couldn't ask anyone and only had his uncle to vent to.

He absolutely hated waking up without her next to him. To the point to where he would lay awake for hours imagining that she was there, hoping that if he prayed hard enough Agni or Yue would deliver her to him so he could finally see her again, even if it was only for one night until they reunited after the eclipse. But of course, to no avail, she would never appear next to him, not even in his dreams. He would have terrible nightmares of him or her being snatched up by pirates again, or his father finding out about what he was doing and having him publicly hanged or burned to death in front of a mob of cheering people, or something happening to her or the baby. Now, even, after how much time he had spent with him, he was beginning to have night terrors about something happening to someone else of the Gaang.

He had nearly burnt a servant to a crisp the other day after he had offered him some watermelon juice, one of the things Katara had been craving. Jerky was even starting to poke at him in his brain, the kind Sokka somehow always managed to have a bag of, carrying it around, digging his hand into it and throwing a piece up into the air to catch in his mouth. Zuko honestly missed the way how sometimes, if he got lucky, he'd be able to snatch up and grab it before it fell into the warriors mouth, sometimes even Momo was able to leap through the air and catch a piece. All the thoughts of food would make his stomach growl, but he of course would never eat anything, even the things he had been craving, to soothe it.

Azula had set him and Mai up on a date. A nice, relaxing, romantic komodo-rhino ride along the cliffs of the mountain side, settling down for a picnic afterwards to watch the sunset. This had seemed like a pretty good idea, until one of the trainers snapped his whip into the air to summon the beasts. Just the sound had Zuko nearly collapse right then and there, the demons being woken up and set loose onto him, even worse than before, without Katara there to help shoo them away. He had even begun to shake so terribly that Mai had thought he was having a seizure, and insisted that she called some medics. After several agonizing, never ending minutes of trying to assure her that he was fine after finally composing himself well enough to be able to stand up without having to lean on something or someone, they continued on with the ride. But the whole time, he had a perfect view of the ocean, which of course reminded him terribly of his precious waterbender.

Every little sound or shuffle was beginning to startle him. He would stroll down the middle of the hallways, his hands held behind his back and an unreadable expression on his face, but he would always glance around the corners, into the other halls and examine the doors as he passed them by to make sure no one out of the ordinary was there, the hairs on the back of his neck always standing straight up. This often caused them to brush against the baby hairs that fell from the back of his topknot, and would make him feel as though some grubby pirate was reaching out to grab him by the back of the collar to pull him into the shadows and up abroad an old, rundown ship. He'd immediately turn around to make sure it wasn't. During the first few weeks he had been in the palace and this had happened, he'd always spin around and punch at the air, a burst of flames coming to life at his knuckles, but after nearly catching one of the tapestries on the walls on fire, he had to begin composing himself better, and had gotten to the point to where he was able to just look over his shoulder to make sure that no one was reaching for him from behind.

"I feel like I'm losing my mind. Like all the progress I made is fading away. Even in a highly secured palace miles from the shore I'm so paranoid for us both. She could be in the middle of the ocean right now-" He breathed out frantically, all of his worries ready to gush from his mind and out his mouth, into his uncle's listening ears, but this time, Iroh cut him off before he could continue any further.

"Zuko," Iroh said firmly, almost as if he was annoyed. Zuko picked up on this and was sure that his patience was beginning to wear thin, after having hearing all of this a thousand times since they had reached the palace. "Nothing is going to happen to her. Calm down, have a cup of tea." He poured some Passionflower tea into a spare cup before he slid it across the table over to his troubled nephew, knowing the properties the tea held would help calm him down, and while he was drinking the tea, it'd keep him silent, hopefully long enough to where he'd actually be able to finish a whole game of Pai Sho in peace and without trouble, which would probably be the first since they had gotten there.

Zuko sighed and propped his elbows up on his knee's, placing his chin on top of his fists as he stared at the tea before him, honestly considering it. "I think I'm going to go train." He said as he stood, knowing it would take out some of his built up anger, frustration, and confusion. "Thank you anyways, Uncle. Maybe later."

!

Zuko panted as he made his way back over to the benches for his towel. He had been training for hours after leaving his uncles sitting room. He gulped down some water to soothe his dry mouth and throat. He swung his towel over his shoulders and took a seat, motioning for a couple of the men he had been training with to go ahead without him, silently telling them that he would duel the winner.

"Prince Zuko," He heard his father voice calling out to him and turned to his left to see Ozai walking over to him, casually making his way into the training arena. "You missed lunch." He informed, taking a seat on the bench behind him. Zuko shrugged and took his attention back to the trainers in front of him, watching as one broke the other's root, winning the practice fight. Ozai narrowed his eyes and examined Zuko's bare back, noticing how many slash marks and scars he had somehow earned himself while being away.

"Zuko, what on earth happened to you?" He asked as he looked up, only to see Zuko begin to walk away from him. "Zuko!" He called out, unsure if he just hadn't heard him, or was blatantly ignoring him. Ozai was just getting ready to stand when e felt a small hand fall onto his shoulder. He furrowed his brows as he turned to see who could possibly be, who could possibly be daring enough to touch him.

"Calm down," It was Azula. "Let's see what he does." She took a seat next to him and motioned him to join her to watch as Zuko stood before his opponent, his arms crossed behind his back. They waited, surprised to see no one making the first move. "What is he doing?" She asked, obviously confused.

Little did they know, he was waiting to see what the other was going to do first, as Toph had done so many times before him. The way she would stand there and stare blankly, almost looking as if she was some kind of seriously realistic, life-sized doll as she waited for her opponent to strike first. Unlike a firebender.

The man who Zuko was now training with furrowed his brow, obviously confused as well, but punched the air anyways, sending a a fist sized fire blast towards the Prince. Zuko shifted out the way easily, avoiding the attack instead of breaking it and sending his own out, as Aang did, twirling around the offender until he grew tired, doing all the work for the young boy, giving him a chance deliver an easy, non-harmful blow to finish the fight, to capture the person, or to simply flee in order to avoid resulting to violence. Unlike a firebender.

Zuko swayed over to his right and lifted his arm, sending out a sharp and precise slice of fire, striking the man just before his feet, sending him tumbling over, just as Katara would have done with water, turning it to ice to trip her opponent. Also, unlike a firebender.

Azula smiled and made her way over to her older brother after seeing him win the practice match with a simple, single movement. "That's some fighting technique you've picked up, Zuko" She complemented honestly. "How about we have a go?"

Zuko placed his hands behind his back and turned to face her, his expression unreadable. "No. I'm done for the day. I have already made plans with Uncle."

Her face scrunched with disappointment as she watched him walk away, not bothering to go back and grab his towel. She sighed and made her way back over to her father, matching her pace to his as he began to make his own way out of the training area as well.

"He's changed quite a bit, hasn't he?" She asked.

"He has."

!

It was a stormy day, a few weeks since he had gotten home. He was sure he was beginning to lose his mind without his waterbender by his side. Zuko made his way through the palace halls draped in some of the highest of quality night robes, but he didn't care. He stepped out onto a balcony that over looked the gardens and turtle-duck pond Southeast of the Palace, the place his mother used to take him and Azula to play.

He took in a deep breath and closed his eyes, feeling the droplets of rain fall onto him, running down his face, neck, and arms. It was feather light and reminded him terribly of Katara. The way she would lightly run her knuckles over the sides of his face after a shave or run the pads of her fingertips over his arms during one of their rare nights together.

"Zuko," He heard his father's voice hiss from behind him, ripping him from his thoughts. "What are you doing? Get out of the rain!"

"No." He said firmly, glaring at Ozai over his shoulder. He could see him flinch back from inside the hall, shocked that he would dare speak to him in such a way. "It feels good." He said softly, turning his face back to the courtyard.

He heard Ozai's feet begin to shuffle away as he let out a growl, terribly annoyed with the way he had been acting since he had gotten home. Zuko shook his head and scowled at his father, even though he couldn't see him. Ozai shouldn't be expecting even a hint of respect from him after what he had put him through! It was his fault he was so mentally messed up and physically scared on nearly every inch of his body. He growled and turned, sloshing his way back to his room, leaving a trail of puddles from his soaking wet robes. Once he reached his room, he pried the fabric off his body and changed into some dry pants.

Zuko gulped as he ran his fingers up the baby pink, shiny skin of a scar he gotten on one of his arms from being cut by one of the pirates. He was examining his bare upper torso in a mirror in his room. He turned to the side and noticed that he was startling to lose some of the muscle mass he had worked so hard to hadn't been eating properly again, hardly, if at all, without Katara and Iroh constantly shoving food in front of him. Even Sokka constantly walking around with a bag of something helped him keep his stomach from going empty for too long. Katara wouldn't be happy to see him falling into this kind of state.

He bit his lip, turning back towards the mirror as he trailed his nails up the scars she had left on him. His eyes shifted, noticing a dark figure appear behind him. It was Mai. She quietly made her way over to him, her eyes beginning to gloss over with tears, realizing just how beaten up he had gotten during his travels. She lifted a hand and lightly ran her finger tips over one of the longer scars on his back. She swallowed hard and looked into his eyes through the mirror.

"Will you tell me what happened?" She asked softly, a small shake in her voice.

He turned to face her, staring at her wildly in silence for a while before he slowly nodded his head as he motioned towards his bed. She took a seat on the edge while he crawled up into the middle of it, taking a pillow to hold in his lap. He told her everything. By them time he was finished, he was laying down on his back and she was sitting beside him. He held an arm around her waist and she had laced their fingers together, her hand over his.

"You know," He started softly, his voice just above a whisper. "Sometimes, I wish that you and I had done something together before I left." She turned her head to face him, honest confusion filling her eyes as she wasn't sure of what exactly he was speaking about. She figured, but she wasn't sure and she stayed silent to allow him to continue on with his confession.

"I mean, I love Katara, I do, a lot. She's everything to me and I'm pretty damn positive that I'm losing my mind without her here, actually, but to lose something like that in that sort of way... You were my first love, Mai. You know that. Sometimes- I mean- It's just that- I-... I don't know." He huffed and ran he free hand over his face and through his loose hair. Now was no time for his feelings for Mai to start creeping up on him again, especially during a time like this.

He had honestly never really gotten over Mai or stopped caring for her or even stopped loving her. One of the biggest reasons he accepted the fact that he was now on Team Avatar was because of Mai and her little brother, Tomtom. He hated knowing that because his forefathers, Mai had witness and go through and do the things she had to do because of them, because of their stupid, selfish mistake that had ended up nearly ruining everything.

Poor Tomtom, that poor boy would be fed the lies the schools told and he would raised to have honest hatred towards the other nations, the other cultures, the other people. All which held such beauty, it was a shame to want to destroy and wipe them all out. He'd be sent off to war, with the ways things were going, probably by the age of eighteen or even younger, against his will.

During his banishment, one of the things that kept him going was the thought of Mai being there in the Fire Nation, waiting for him with open arms. Just the thought of returning to her and going on to have a long, happy life with her nearly gave him more motivation to capture the Avatar than his father's love and acceptance did. He had been too stupid to realize that Mai had loved him unconditionally, and he was beginning to realize that she still did, even after all the things he's done, she loved him endlessly.

Zuko had unknowingly thrown himself right back into a situation that was mentally torturing for him. He had just been recently settling down into his relationship with Katara, but now, laying there with Mai, old feelings for her were beginning to resurface.

He let a huff and focused his thoughts on Katara. Instead of solely relying on his mental attachment to her that kept him with her, he had finally began to realize the little things he honestly loved about her, like the way she would bite her lip and focus hard on her waterbending moves during a practice, even though they were moves he was sure she had mastered long ago, the way she would always pause and listen to what Iroh had to say, instead of just taking his words and advice for granted. She'd wear her hair in the fashion he thought looked best on her and wore the outfit he liked the most as often as she could, just because she knew it was attractive to him. The way she would run her knuckles over the sides of his face after he shaved, the way she squeaked when he would begin to hold her too tightly during one of their bear-hugs. Little things like that added up, and meant a lot to him.

But Mai, on the other hand, had remained faithful to him during the three long years he had been away, something he had not done for her. Mai kept his secret about being alive from Ty Lee and Azula, she had obviously gone easy on them when they had ran into each other again after Azula had tracked them down in a tanker-train, and word was that she tried to keep Ty Lee from going after them during the whole drill situation. She had most recently risked getting caught, risked her life, to get him to Katara, the girl he had left her for, and she was still helping him with everything he needed while he was there in the Fire Nation, even though all she would have to do is tell Azula of what he's done and what he's doing and he'd be killed either on the spot, or the first thing the next morning for high treason against the Fire Lord, Princess, and Nation. Mai would probably also be killed, for helping him so much and for so long. Big things like that mean the most to him.

Zuko groaned and rubbed his temple. He had been longing for comfort and intimate conversations, as Katara had often supplied him. But, she wasn't there. Mai was. He hadn't loved Katara when he gave her his innocence- or, when he had his innocence stolen from him, more of. Yes, he loved her now, but he had always wanted to give himself to someone he had known and loved for a long time, someone he had planned on spending the rest of his life with beforehand.

That someone had been the girl that is currently sitting beside him, in his arm, on his bed. He felt terribly guilty for all he's done to her and put her through and he owed her a lot, his life, probably several times over, now. He was well aware and knew that Mai had also wished for the same as he had, and he figured that perhaps he would be able to finally grant it in a way, even if it wasn't completely fulfilled the the way they had planned or wanted.

He sat up and pressed his back up against the headboard of the bed as he pulled her close to him, untangling their fingers to be able to run his hand up her arm to her shoulder. He leaned his head down to be able to place a kiss on the skin of her shoulder, beside where his hand was. He took his arms and wrapped both of them around her as he leaned and turned to be able to kiss her mouth, honestly somewhat surprised when she kissed him back softly.

Mai turned and allowed him to press her down onto her back, placing a forearm on either side of her her head and tangling his fingers in her hair, keeping himself propped above her as he continued to kiss her. She lifted her head up off the bed to deepen the kiss, running her tongue over his bottom lip before she gently bit into it and slowly leaned back down, pulling on him as she did so. He leaned down and kissed her simply one more time before he pulled away from her mouth to trail kisses down her cheek, to the sensitive skin below her ear.

She wrapped her arms around him, ignoring the different textures the scars gave the skin on his back. She wanted to dig her nails into his skin and claw down his back, but she stopped herself, the image of the ten, jagged lines that trailed down his chest and stomach, scarring the skin. She furrowed her brow, realizing that the girl, the waterbender he had been with before must have done that to him during one of their nights together. Damn him!

She hissed, realizing that he had begun to pry the fabric of her robe off her shoulder. She flexed her fingers and dug her nails into his shoulders, getting his attention. He lifted himself up enough to be able to look at face, to be able to see the scowl she wore and the glares she sent his way.

"What?" He asked, furrowing his brow and tilting his head to the side in confusion.

"No." She said sternly, taking her hands from his shoulder blades to his collar bones, pressing him away from her.

"No?"

"No!" She shoved him off and rolled out from under him, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed, placing her feet firmly on the ground as she stood still beside the bed. "You can't keep doing this to me, Zuko! Doing all of... this!" She yelled, motioning to him, laying there using one elbow to prop himself up on the mattress. "Then going straight back to that girl you're going to stay and be with! I'm not your little play thing! And... neither is she!"

Mai huffed and shifted to face the door before she turned back towards him as she crossed her arms over her chest and scrunched her face at him. "I'm not about to lay there and let you do to her what you did to me. She loves you, Zuko. Get that through your thick skull and don't take a girls love for you for granted this time!" She shook her head and stormed out of his room, closing the door tightly behind her.

Zuko plopped down onto his mattress and smacked his palm down onto his forehead. "So stupid!" He growled, scolding himself for his actions. "Why did I do that?" He groaned and ran his hand through his hair as he sat up, hopping off the bed to make his way over to his private bathroom.

He ran the water nearly as hot as it would go and poured almost two whole bottles liquid bubble soap into the tub. Good thing it was one of those ridiculously large bathtubs, or the bubbles would have overflown and gone onto the floor of the room. After waiting for the water to nearly fill the tub, Zuko settled down into the steaming water, letting out a long sigh as his hands slipped into the layer of bubbles. It smelled of honeysuckle and dianthus, a perfect combination of sweetness and spice.

He sank down into the water. Katara would love this, he thought. Zuko sat up and buried his face into his hands, sobbing into his palms. He couldn't believe what he had just tried to do, what he had nearly done, had it not been for Mai. He attempted to calm himself by figuring that he was just some horny teenager that couldn't control himself, but that just made it worse. Was he seriously about to let his urges get the better of him? Did he really nearly just cheat on Katara?

Why had he even dared to think about even suggesting it? He had been feeling terribly deprived of of feeling close to someone he loved, mentally and physically, and Mai had been the only around who was able to fill the void that Katara left in her absence. Then he thought, maybe it wasn't just that. Perhaps it hadn't just been the urge or the need to connect with someone, maybe he had done it in spite of Katara, because was still pretty angry with her, after what she had suggested to do about the baby. To rid them of him before they even really got him. Zuko let out a huff, was he seriously about to turn the tables and shift his anger towards Katara?

He let out a long groan as he leaned back against the porcelain tub, slowly sinking further and further down into the water with each passing minute. He really needed to get his act together. During his time with Katara present, he had been starting to feel as though his mental issues were beginning to subside and he was becoming more and more happier and a new, better him. But without her here, he was taking many, large steps backwards. He had started to wish for her around every corner of every hall, behind every door. Every set of footsteps he heard coming towards him, he hoped it would be her, but it always turned to be either a servant, guard, or his sister or father.

His eating habits were beginning to get worse and worse again, each meal he would eat less and less, even getting to the point to where Azula had joked about him ending up being admitted to the infirmary due to malnutrition again. Zuko shot an insulting joke right back to her, asking if she would jab him in the arm and cry about their mother again. He let out a huff, realizing things like that were him becoming more and more irritable.

He was losing sleep as well, with the way he would lay there for hours thinking about his precious waterbender, the love of his life. He needed her with him. He needed to be with Katara.

Zuko nearly allowed himself to slip underneath the water, but he knew that while under this kind of distress and mental exhaustion that was so strong it was beginning to cause physical fatigue, he'd probably end up drowning himself.

!

"So!" Iroh started as he walked next to his nephew down a busy street of one the lower class markets. "Have you thought of any names?" It had been a number of month since they had all reunited and Iroh was sure that the baby would be arriving within the next few months, and he was curious as to what the young couple had been planning on what they would be calling the baby.

Zuko laughed, an honest smile spreading across his face. "I want to name him after you, of course, but I haven't got any idea as to what she would suggest or want." He admitted simply. He and Katara hadn't gotten the chance to actually discuss baby names before everything went down and Ba Sing Se and they separated from each other for the time being. Sure, they had joked about different names around the table with the rest of the group, Zuko distinctly remembers Sokka suggesting the name 'Boomer', but the two themselves had never sat down to settle on name they both liked and agreed on.

Iroh hummed as he rubbed his chin in thought. "You could always try meshing the names together or giving him two names." He suggested, holding his hand out as if he were actually holding the idea out to Zuko, as if it were in his palm. Iroh wondered if Zuko had meant directly after him, giving the baby his same exact name. Iroh had been named after his mother, Ilah, and he suggested that they could give the baby a name that just sounded like his.

"I suppose." Zuko shrugged, wondering about what kind of names Katara would come up.

"So, what are you looking for exactly?" Iroh asked, scanning the rows and rows of stores before him. Zuko had been dragging him all across the Capitol since the market was just beginning to open. Apparently, he hadn't been able to find what he was looking for in any of the shops of the Capitol, but insisted that they continued looking through every store, even if it meant they would end up having to travel throughout all of the land to find whatever it was he was searching for.

"A ribbon." He answered matter-of-factly as he leaned over a glass case that held different necklaces inside.

"A ribbon!" Iroh gasped, nearly dropping the very expensive tea kettle he held in his hand. He hissed and carefully put the ceramic kettle back onto it's display shelf. "What ever for?" What on earth was Zuko doing? Dragging him around for hours just a band of fabric! Zuko was right, he was going crazy!

Zuko smiled and held a thin, round jewel between his pointer and middle finger out to him. Iroh cupped his hands under Zuko's, catching the stone into his palms. He took in a long gasp of air, realizing what it was.

"Did you make this?" He asked, holding it closer to his eyes to get a better look. It was extraordinary. Iroh recognized the stone as blue amber. In the Fire Nation the blue tint in the amber would be seen as an impurity, but for someone of the Fire Nation who was planning on marrying someone of the Water Tribes, it represented the two perfectly. Hold it in your hand it would show an amber color, hold it up to the light and it would show you blue. One and the other, fire and water.

"No," He admitted, holding up a ribbon to further examine the fabric. "A master craftsman and carver did it for me. I don't know if it's okay, but if I'm supposed to make her one, I suppose I'll have a go at it." He returned the ribbon back to it's case, deeming it unworthy as he turned around to face his uncle. "Though, I don't think I'll ever be good enough to make something of that quality. I'm not even sure if betrothal necklaces are used in the Southern Water Tribe as they are in the Northern."

"Did you come up with this symbol?" He asked, running the pad of his thumb over the engraved lines that ran into the stone. It was the Fire Nation emblem. In the middle of the flame, where there would normally be a single line swirling to the center, he had gotten the same symbol of Katara's necklace carved into the stone in place of the spiral. It ran perfectly together in seamless curves.

Zuko nodded and smiled as he held up a strand of fabric towards his uncle, silently asking for his approval. It was a band of the color Azure Radiance. Iroh smiled and nodded, insisting that it was the one.

!

"Zuko!" Azula called out from behind him, having to take long strides to reach side across the hall. "You missed Saburo's latest Agni Kai today."

"Saburo? I thought he had retired." The disappointment in his voice was genuine. He had a heard a great deal of Saburo, before, during, and even after his banishment. The man was said to be half made of metal and was capable of combustion. He had become rather famous in the Fire Nation after having word spread about how quickly he could end one of the duels using his ability to firebend with his mind.

"Some fool challenged him. Father allowed it to be held in the Agni Kai chambers here in the palace. I'm surprised you didn't hear about it."

"I have been out of the Capitol with Uncle. We've only just returned." Azula's smile faded, hearing his tone of voice sink back into the harsh, stern one he had began to use. Sure, she hadn't seen or heard him in years and had obviously gone through a lot during his travels, but this set in stone facial expression and firm tone wasn't one she ever figured he would use. It reminded her that he had changed completely since she last saw him.

She huffed, annoyed by his stiffness. "You should go congratulate him, anyways." She informed before turning down a separate hall.

Zuko paused, taking the time to think. He smirked, figuring that was a great idea indeed.

!

"So, you could teach me how to do it?" Zuko asked, crossing his arms over his chest as he shifted his weight onto one leg. "Well, except, not with my forehead, of course."

Saburo nodded, assuring him that it was a skill that could be taught.

Nearly a week had passed and all they had done was meditate. Zuko's patience was beginning to wear thin, as time was running out, and he put on his stone face as he entered the room they used to sit in private. He was surprised to see none of the torches or candles lit, Saburo standing just before the door.

"Are you going to start teaching me more?" Zuko asked, knowing Saburo wouldn't speak first. He nodded and motioned towards the back door that led out to his personal courtyard.

They stood in the middle of the stone ground, the sun's rays beaming down on them. Zuko took in a deep breath, feeling the sun's energy meet his skin and course through his body.

"I take the energy from my stomach," Saburo began instructing, pointing towards his gut. "And run it through my chi paths, up to my forehead." Zuko placed his hand on his chin in thought. This sounded terribly familiar. "You have to focus on the spot you want intensely."

"Kind of like heat redirection, but with more pressure." Saburo nodded.

Zuko hummed, thinking hard about how he was going to go about having his try at this. It was obviously terribly dangerous if you didn't know what you were doing. Saburo was the living prove of it, his arm and leg being blown off at a young age after first discovering the ability.

"To redirect lightening, you have to guide it through your arm, down into your stomach, and out the other arm," Zuko mumbled, lazily doing the moments his uncle had taught him a while back. "If I take the energy from my stomach and guide it through the chi paths in my arms," He began, shifting into the stance he was making up, putting his hands out in front of him and lacing all his fingers but the pointers together, holding them against the other, pointing to the spot to where he was going to focus on. "And create a line of pressure towards the spot I want, do you think that would work?" He asked, looking towards the half metal man over his shoulder.

Saburo shrugged and lifted a hand to twitch his metal fingers, silently telling Zuko to be careful.

Zuko rolled his eyes and turned back towards the rock he was going to try to get to explode. He focused on the spot he wanted, building up a line of pressure towards it. He could literally feel the energy bottling up inside his stomach. He took in a deep breath and sent the energy through the chi paths in his arms. A blast of light shot out from his finger tips, smashing into the rock he had wanted, a ball of fire erupting and waving back over them, searing some of their hair and clothes.

"Well," Saburo began, scratching the burnt hair off the side of his face. "Looks like it works."

!

Mai huffed as she plopped down onto her couch, leaning her back against the arm rest as she curled her legs up close to her. It had been an even more dull and boring day than usual. She let out a long sigh as she turned to face the door way, hearing steps coming into the room.

It was Zuko holding a rather cranky Tomtom on his hip.

"Your mother is going to the market," He informed as he sat on the other side of the sofa, pulling the toddler into his lap so he could face him. Tomtom narrowed his eyes before he leaned back, waving his arms in the air as he let out a screeching cry.

Mai let out a groan as she slammed her eyes shut and rubbed her temples. The boy hadn't even been in her presence for more than a minute and he was already giving her a terrible headache.

"Tomtom," Zuko said softly, poking the two year old gently in the tummy. He stopped his wailing around to pout at Zuko, giving him the best scowl he could muster. He looked like Mai as he did this, he had obviously learned this facial expression from her. Zuko smiled and scratched him under the arm, tickling him. Tomtom let out an odd sound, a mix between a growl and a squeal. He grabbed Zuko's hand and squeezed it as hard as he could, trying to inflict pain on him.

"What are you doing?" He asked, tickling his other side, then going back to tickle his stomach. Tomtom leaned over in attempt to keep him from reaching him again. Zuko smiled and tickled his right side, when he leaned to try and stop him, Zuko moved over to his left and continued the process until he had the toddler squirming around in a fit of laughter.

Tomtom nearly fell out of his lap and onto the floor, but Zuko quickly put his knees together to catch him before he fell back. Zuko laughed at the expression of pure fear on the toddlers face. He lifted Tomtom's shirt as he leaned down to blow raspberries onto his stomach, ticking him even more than he already had been.

It didn't take long for Tomtom to use up all his energy by laughing and squirming around. His laughter began to fade as he grew tired. Zuko smirked down to him, his plan had worked. It had already been a bit past noon and somehow Tomtom had managed to get out of taking his much needed afternoon nap, causing him to throw a temper tantrum about not having any of his favorite berries. His mother left in search of them herself, of course the day Tomtom acted up terribly was the day her servants had requested off.

Zuko smiled gingerly at the now dozing toddler, watching as his features would soften, then suddenly tense back up again. Tomtom was fighting to stay awake, but it looked as though sleep was winning.

Mai smiled as she stretched a leg out and nudged Zuko in the hip with her toe to get his attention. "You're going to be a great father, Zuko." She said softly, honestly meaning it. He turned to face her, his eyes wide with surprise.

"Really?" He asked. "You think so?"

"I know so, Zuko." She smiled and rested her cheek on the cushion of the back rest.

He let out a long sigh as he slowly returned his gaze to a now sleeping Tomtom. "I sure hope so," He murmured, terribly frightened of what he could very well turn into in the future.

!

"Well, well, well. Look who we have here," Zuko growled as he stood up, towering over the bowing man before him. "If it isn't my old friend, Lieutenant Jee." Zuko heard Jee gulp has began circle around him. "Or, Commander, is it? I hear that Admiral Zhao was the one who promoted you." Zuko paused and took a sharp intake of breath.

"Or was the promotion illegal, seeing as that you had been under my command before you betrayed me?" Zuko growled, putting emphasis on the 'my'. "You know, that is considered treason against the Crown Prince," Zuko stopped in his tracks, pausing to stand at Jee's side. "And is punishable by death." Zuko smirked, seeing a small droplet of sweat splatter down onto the floor from Jee's forehead.

The Fire Prince took simple strides back over to his seat, sitting down into his chair so casually, as if he had not just threatened to have a man killed. "I'm sparing you and the rest of my former men, but just this one time. You've betrayed me once before, I trust that you will not do it again?" He asked, raising his chin up a bit.

"N-no, your majesty. Of course not." Jee stuttered in fear and shock. This was most definitively not the Prince Zuko he had served under previously! This person was far more stern with a hardened heart. He wasn't the same boy you could push around a bit and press his buttons and still get away with it a few times before he finally began to lose his temper. No, this man was no nonsense, and he was terrifying, just as his father before him.

"What would you do to prove that to me, Lieutenant?"

"Anything, sir."

"Anything?" Zuko smirked as he narrowed his eyes. "Well, in that case, I have a very important task for you, Admiral Jee."

!

Katara panted as she paced back and forth across the shore line on a small beach of the Black Cliffs. She had been messing her nails terribly all day and was honestly surprised none of them had bled yet by her constantly picking and tearing at them.

"Katara?" Sokka asked, noticing her nervous behavior. "Are you okay?"

She gulped. "Where's Zuko? He's supposed to be here isn't he? You sent that messenger hawk, right? What if he didn't get it? What if while he was taking a boat to get here some pirates got him? Oh my gosh! What if the message got intercepted and Ozai knows everything and had him killed! He's dead! He's dead, Sokka, he-"

"Katara!" Sokka stepped forward and caught his sister in his arms, grabbing her on her upper arms to hold her in place. "He's not dead. I'm sure he's just busy preparing everything. I'm sure we'll see sign of him-..." Sokka paused, seeing something shimmer in the corner of his eye. He turned towards the ocean, surprised to see a number of large Fire Navy vessels approaching the harbor. "Soon." He gulped and stepped back, unsure if the ships had in fact been sent by Zuko.

Hakoda made his way over to his children, asking what was going on. Sokka gulped and shook his head slowly, unsure himself. No one said a single word as the ships came up to the shore, the bow lowering down to reveal the soldiers inside.

A grey haired man with sideburns stepped down from the hull of the ship and stopped a few feet short of the Water Tribe family. He placed his hands behind his back before introducing himself.

"I am Admiral Jee, my small fleet and I have been hand chosen and sent here personally by Fire Prince Zuko to aid in the Invasion."

Sokka's jaw dropped, surprised that Zuko would have this done. "Zuko... sent a whole... fleet of Fire Navy ships!"

"My men and I recognize that after all of this is over, Prince Zuko will be crowned Fire Lord and end the war. We're just as tried as everyone else is. Why continue to follow a man destined to lose it all, instead of one that is destined to gain it all and bring peace and prosperity back to our nation? Ozai had called for a small fleet of ships for extra protection of the harbor behind the Great Gates of Azulon. These ships will be able to take out a majority of the turret's that defend the road up to the Palace."

"Oh, I get it!" Sokka held his hands out to his sides, understanding exactly what Zuko had set up. "Ozai will allow these ships to pass through, thinking they're his. Then, he'll be taken by surprise when we all pop out and start attacking! He'll think these were stolen ships!"

"Exactly that." Jee nodded. "Word spread about how one of our ships had been captured by bunch of Water Tribe men. That's what gave Zuko the idea."

"So, you've spoken to Zuko recently?" Katara asked. "You've seen him? He's okay?"

"You must be Katara," Jee smiled down at her. "Yes, he's fine. I served under him during his banishment and General Iroh during his Siege of Ba Sing Se. I know him and his uncle well."

They made their way into the flagship of the fleet and sat around a table to further discuss what the plan was going to be as they made their way toward the Capitol.

"Prince Zuko had a new model of tanks made specifically for this occasion. They're easy to use for all benders," Jee went on to explain how the floor of the tanks had patches of mesh, where earthbenders could lift stone through the holes and then send it out one of the many flap doors on the sides of the tank. The tanks were also equipped with barrels of water on the inside. The tanks had three canons on the front for any type of bender could send their element through it without having to risk being harmed by having to use the top hatch and expose their upper body.

"Wow, Zuko's pretty smart after all." Sokka admitted as he examined the schematics of the newly designed tank.

"We have them down on the cargo level if you would like to go ahead and see one in person." Jee informed, motioning to the door of the room. Sokka nodded and had one of the other men escort him and his father down to see the tanks.

Katara huffed drew invisible patterns into the metal table.

"We'll be reaching the gates soon." Jee pointed out, looking through one of the windows toward the horizon. He tilted his head, noticing the girl across from him was obviously feeling uneasy. "I look forward to serving under the both of you in the near future. I'm sure you'll make an excellent Fire Lady." He stood and smiled before he bowed to her. He turned and made his way out of the room.

"I sure hope so," She breathed out to no one.

She sat in that room for a a few more minutes before a siren went off. Just as she stood the door opened up, a solider standing on the other side.

"Do not be afraid. It is code, used to signal the gate keepers that we have been sent by Fire Lord Ozai." He informed as he made his way over to her, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. "It is time to take our battle stations."

Katara calmed herself as she climbed up onto Appa. Sokka, Toph, and Aang already there waiting for her. They were going to fly Appa up as high as he could go to elude the line of fire and get to the Palace easily while the rest of the troops distracted any of the soldiers along the road that led up to it.

They could hear and the feel the bottom of the ships grinding against the shore. Puffs of air were released from the ship as the bows began to fold down and the hatch over Appa began to slide open. It was incredibly calm and silent for a moment, and then, everything broke loose.

The tanks rolled out as the catapults on the ship began to fire at the turrets on the mountain sides. Appa flew up through the clouds of dark smoke trails left by the burning rocks that flew through the air. They flew upwards at an angle, moving towards the Palace as they ascended through the air.

"Whoa!" Sokka called out as he pointed over the side of saddle down to a man that looked as though he was half metal. "Look at that guy!"

Aang and Katara leaned over the side, watching as the man exploded one of the turrets from meters away. "Is he... firebending with his mind?" Aang asked, leaning down a bit more in attempt to get a better look.

"Zuko's got some pretty weird friends." Sokka pointed as he took Appa's reins into his hands, returning his focus to the Palace ahead of them.

"Yeah, like you?" Aang teased, oddly light-hearted in the moment. Perhaps it hadn't hit him what he was going to do to Ozai, even if he was going to powerless during the eclipse.

They sat in silence for a little bit before Sokka called out again. "Whoa, Katara! Look at your future house! It's ginormous!" He exclaimed, motioning towards the building they were quickly approaching.

"Well, yeah, Sokka. It's a palace." She teased, rolling her eyes at him.

They had Appa swoop down underneath the overhang that covered the palace steps.

"Wow," Toph said as she finally made contact with the ground, being able to get a look at the Palace's size. "This place is huge."

"Alright, I'm gunna go look for Ozai. You guys stay out here and try to hold back as many guards as you can! Be careful and stay safe! All of you!" Aang grabbed his staff and took off into the main hall of the Palace in search for the Fire Lord.

The trio stayed back and shifted into a stance, waiting for the royal guards to show up. A few minutes passed before they began to notice just how quiet it was in town.

Sokka furrowed his brow and lowered his sword. "Is it just me, or is this place... empty?"

"I don't see anyone." Katara admitted, returning her summoned water back into it's pouch.

"Me either." Toph added, placing her hand against one of the pillars that supported the overhang.

"Should we go look inside?" Sokka asked, turning towards the front doors.

"I guess." Katara shrugged and began making her way inside. "Wow," She breathed, examining the main hall. "Look at this place."

"Well, I know we're I'm coming to visit on every holiday, birthday, celebrations, and weekends and-" He paused, hearing a familiar squawking from around the corner. He peeped behind the wall and saw a messenger hawk perched on a table that was placed up against the wall. "Hawky?" He asked, holding his arm for the bird to hop onto. He noticed a scroll placed inside the birds canister on his back. He plucked the scroll up and opened it, reading the message. He let out a gasp at the information it read.

"What?" Katara asked, spinning around to face him.

"They knew!" He mumbled as he continued to read the note aloud before speaking the information he deemed important clearly. "They're in a bunker deep into the volcano. He says Toph can get us down to the main tunnels and lead us through the maze until we get to the chambers. He wants us to burn this note in the lava." Sokka paused and tried to determine how much time they had left until the full eclipse happened. "We need to find Aang and get moving. We probably don't have much time left."

They turned back towards the main hall and saw Aang running towards them.

"Come on!" Sokka called as he took off towards the front doors of the palace, motioning for Aang to hurry up. "We know where they are!"

!

Ozai groaned as he scanned his eyes back and forth, following his son's frantic pacing. "Zuko," He droned out before taking a sip of tea. "What are you so nervous about?"

"I'm not nervous, I'm restless. I should be out there helping defend the Capitol." Zuko growled as he continued to pace back and forth.

Ozai sighed. "Prince Zuko, you've done so much for our nation already. Calm down, have a cup of tea." He suggested, motioning towards the tea set beside him.

"You sound like Uncle." Zuko smirked as he heard his father choke on the sip of tea had just taken.

"'Speaking of Iroh," Ozai coughed. "Where is my brother?"

"I'll go look for him!" Zuko turned and left the room before Ozai could protest.

Zuko let out a sigh of relief. Ozai had insisted that he accompany him during the eclipse and he had agreed, not knowing he would be pretty much held in there against his will. He turned to his left and began making his way down the hall in search of his uncle. It didn't take long before he spotted a servant making her way down the hall.

"Excuse me," He called out, getting her attention. She turned to face him, bowing after realizing who had called for her. "Have you seen my uncle?" He asked, tilting his head to the side a bit.

"Yes, Prince Zuko. He claimed a private room and had us place a Pai Sho table there so he could play while he enjoyed his favorite tea during the eclipse." She informed happily, a smile upon her face. "I could direct you to him, if that is what you would like, your majesty." Zuko nodded and followed her as she escorted him through the halls.

"Ah, Prince Zuko!" Iroh greeted after seeing him walking into the room. "I was hoping you would join me." He took a sip of tea as he motioned for his guards to leave the room, leaving him and Zuko in private.

"What should we do, Uncle?" He asked as he took a seat on the cushion placed before his uncle.

"You need to meet up with your group of friends while I go and meet up with mine."

"What do you mean?"

Iroh smiled and toyed with a Pai Sho tile between his fingers and went on to tell him about the Order of the White Lotus, and his plans to meet up with the other members and take back Ba Sing Se.

!

"Where is he! Where's the Fire Lord!" Aang shouted out towards Azula, after busting into a room they had thought belonged to Ozai.

"You mean I'm not good enough for you?" The Princess asked as she stood before them. "You're hurting my feelings."

"Why are you not with him?" Katara hissed. "What? What's the matter? Not daddy's favorite anymore after Zuko showed up alive?" The smirk on Azula's face faded immediately after hearing this. She narrowed her eyes towards the waterbender. "I bet Zuko is with him. Living it up, seated next to him, by his side on the throne, protected by rows of elite guards while you're left here to fend for yourself."

"Enough!" Azula shouted as she clinched her fists by her side. "You won't say another word if you know what's good for you!"

"What are you going to do? Shoot some lightening at me?" Azula growled through clinched teeth as she swung her arm out, throwing a blade towards the waterbender.

Katara swerved out of the way, seeping water from the air and freezing it around Azula's body, all in a single, fluid movement. Then, a ball of stone flew out from the side of the room, cracking the ice a bit.

"Toph!" Katara scolded, turning around to face the earthbender.

"That wasn't me!" Toph lifted her arms up before sending one fist towards the other, bringing two Dai Li agents into sight, surrounded by a cover of rock. She kept her hold on the rock, leaving the agents unable to bend themselves free. "Let's get out of here!" She sent the agents hurtling towards the other, knocking them out as Katara refroze the ice and hardened it even more, making sure Azula wouldn't be able to break or wiggle out of it until the eclipse was over. They bolted through the door way and down the hall.

"What do we do now!" Katara asked through her huffs of air.

"We get out of here! We spent way too long in there and it'll take us a while to get through these tunnels and back to Appa! The eclipse will be well over by then, so I suggest we hurry!" Sokka spoke as he ran closely behind Toph, following her through the maze of tunnels.

"What about Zuko?" Katara whined. She was worried for him. She had no idea where he was or what he could be going through.

"We'll worry about him later, Katara! Right now we have to focus on getting ourselves out of here!"

They made their way back through the maze, Toph still having to stop and check which way they were going to have to go in next every now and then, she had to build bridges and arches out of stone and then destroy them so they didn't leave a trail through the lava. Even though they knew the way better, it still took them a bit to get through the tunnels. Once they were outside and back at the palace, they saw that their troops already had it secured.

"Dad!" Katara called out, noticing him hunching over as he held a hand over his side. "You're hurt?" She asked, gently lifting his hand from his wound.

"Just a bit," He admitted, taking a seat on one of the stone stumps The Boulder had lifted from the ground.

"It was all a trap!" Sokka informed the men around him. "We need to get back to ships as soon as possible! Katara, get dad onto Appa. We're out of here."

"But-" Katara began to argue, but Sokka interrupted.

"Katara, any minute now I'm sure we're going to be bombarded with firebenders, and I don't think Zuko is one of them."

She sighed and helped her father up into the bison's saddle. The other men piled in and onto the tank as they began retreated. They flew in silence for a few minutes before they heard Sokka take in a deep, long breath.

"What... are those?" He asked, staring off behind them.

What looked like to be giant balloons began to ascend into the sky from behind the palace, trailing after the troops and the bison. Everyone was glad they had began to leave as soon as they did, or they surely would have had to deal with whatever those things were. The tanks barely made it back into the ship as they began to pull away, the catapults attempting to bring those war balloons down. The half metal man they had seen before managed to take out two of the smaller ones with ease. Admiral Jee showed all of the non-benders the weapon wall, covered with throwing spears, slingshots, bow and arrows, even boomerangs.

They were able to bring down just about every airship as they continued backing out into the wide part of the harbor, where the ships would turn around and continue moving forward from there. They all stood on the deck of the ships as a alarm began to ring and the gates began to rise.

"How are we supposed to get through those?" Hakoda asked to no one in particular. His question was soon answered, though. The half metal man stood on the balcony of the command tower on the ship to the left and another man stood on the balcony of the ship to their right. They watched as they worked at the same time, exploding a hole into the nettling that was both wide and tall enough for the small fleet to slip through.

"I guess that's how." Sokka said as he rubbed his eyes, having trouble seeing properly after staring right at the bright light of the explosion.

* * *

**READ THIS**

**A/N: **Zubear deserves a chapter that mainly revolved around him, I needed to make it clear just how much stress he was put under without Katara by his side. He still can't function properly without her there, and she of course had her moments, but she had three other people with her that she knew and loved to help her through it, Zuko only had Iroh and had to constantly contain his distress and act like nothing was wrong until he and his uncle were in private, which was very exhausting and mentally tasking.

The Gaang goes on their original adventures throughout the Fire Nation. A few differences, of course, but none really major... I wasn't about to do all those episodes with the Gaang and still write about what Zuko was doing, since the Gaang's adventures are pretty much the same.

Katara is very early in the third trimester now, only a couple months left! She's still kind of small though, she doesn't have one of those bulging bellies like most women would have by now. Everyone eventually got off her back about staying super safe, she can obviously whoop ass and take care of herself. She learned how to bloodbend as Zuko was learning combustion.

Now, I know this may be one of those things that is really controversial, but I figure, look at all the advanced bending we see and how they can be taught. Toph teaching metalbending and making a whole school dedicated to it alone and then having a whole police force of metalbenders. Bloodbending. With your mind. So, I figure, hey, why not combustion? Plus, if I do continue further, Zuko is going to be using this skill later on..

Also, I don't know why, but for some reason Combustion Man strikes me as the person who, when you speak to him and you're nice and don't give him shit, he's actually pretty nice to you. But, if you cross him, you're blown to bits. Literally. The name I gave him, 'Saburo', means 'third son' or 'three'. I figured this fit him nicely, seeing as that he had a 'third eye' and all. I had also considered calling him 'Akio' which means 'shining man'. Cause he's got shiny, metal limbs...

I totally gave Zuko the credit for inventing the first take on canons, which would later be used on the United Forces battle ships and the Army's future tanks as well. Also, I figure that the Mechanist would have eventually figured out how to work his air balloon invention, due to having so much pressure on him to supply the Fire Nation with weapons...

Have any of you ever heard Landfill by Daughter? It fits her very well with the situation she's in, in this story.


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N:** Enjoy!**********  
**

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**They** were all sitting around a table discussing where to go from where they were when they heard a knock on the door. They sat in silence, watching as the door was pressed open, surprised to see a young man they recognized step out into the room.

"I can't believe you guys left without me!"

"Zuko!" Katara immediately jumped up and lunged herself towards him, causing him to crash back into the now closed door. She wrapped her arms around his neck, tangling her fingers into his loose hair as she cried into his chest. He crossed his arms over her back, holding her as tightly as he could without crushing her.

"Hey," He greeted softly into her ear as he placed a hand behind her head, tangling his own fingers into her hair. "Hey!" He repeated, louder this time, as he realized just who it was he was finally holding again.

Zuko let out a long sigh of relief, he finally had Katara back into his arms again. After all that stress and turmoil, he was finally with the person he loved and needed the most. He could feel the pressure on his entire being ease away more and more with each passing second that she remained wrapped up in his arms, held closely to him. He would finally be able to get on the right track again, be able to eat and sleep, to be able to live again now that they were reunited. These minuets that he held her were so incredibly wonderful and blissful, he wished he could stay in them forever.

Aang wiped away a tear as he watched Zuko's face fall just before he buried his face into her shoulder to sob along with her. "That's so beautiful." He sniffled, wiping away at the tears that were now racing down his cheeks.

No one dared disrupt the couple and stayed silent as they watched them tremble in each other's arms, only loosening their grip enough to kiss or hold the other in a new way. Zuko let out a long huff of air, trying to recompose himself as he pulled away from her far enough to place his forehead against hers, gazing into her tear filled cerulean eyes. She cupped his cheeks into her palms as she pointed out the fact that he was crying, running her thumbs over his cheeks to wipe away his tears before she pulled him into another kiss.

She broke away to be able to hold him tight again, rubbing her cheek against the silk fabric that covered his chest. Sokka stood, figuring now was a good enough time for him to reunite with Zuko as well, holding his hand out to him. Zuko pulled one arm away from his waterbender to take Sokka by the forearm, giving it a good shake before pulling the warrior towards him, bring him into his own hug as Katara slipped out from under his other arm, making her way back of over to the table, to a specific person that sat at one of the far corners. Aang stood and made his way over to Zuko, holding is arms out for his own hug.

"Toph?" Zuko asked as he held a hand out to her after he and Aang shared their hug.

She huffed and stood. "Alright, alright." She shuffled over to the firebender, lightly wrapping her arms around him. She let out a groan as he suddenly held her tighter, lifting her up off the floor so he didn't have to lean down to hug her. "Okay, sparky, missed you, too." Toph put a hand on his shoulders, trying to push herself out of his grip. "You can put me down now!" He gently placed her back down onto her own two feet as he saw Katara approaching him again, her arms wrapped around the arm of one of the Water Tribe warriors.

"Zuko," She let out a sigh before she sniffed, still recovering from her previous fit of sobs. "This is my dad." She smiled as she shrugged, pushing her father towards him.

They took each other by the forearms as they greeted the other. "Hello, Chief Hakoda. Sokka has told me plenty about you." Zuko smiled and nodded as he shook Hakoda's arm.

"Oh really? He's told me plenty about you, as well, Prince Zuko" Hakoda smirked, seeing the young man's eyes go wide as he tried to keep still instead of flinching back, obviously surprised that Sokka had spoken to him to his father, and probably frightened by what he may be thinking about him, especially since he was obviously seriously courting his daughter.

"All good, I hope."Zuko smiled wide as he tried to keep his composure, hoping the warrior hadn't picked up on his startle.

"Of course." As Hakoda turned back towards the table, Zuko shot a glare towards Sokka. He gave him a cheesy smile and a shrug in response.

"So, what were we talking about?" Sokka asked, taking back his seat around the table. Zuko joined, sitting down next to Katara. Admiral Jee cleared his throat before picking up at where they left off, trying to figure out where they were going to go now that they had the whole Fire Nation searching for them.

"I want one half of the fleet in the oceans surrounding the Western Air Temple, and the other half at the Southern Air Temple." Zuko informed, motioning towards the map that stretched across the table they sat around. "It's close enough to where we can easily meet in the middle for when the comet arrives, but far enough to where we'll be safe."

"Yes, hide between the islands and take refuge in the buildings if needed." Jee agreed, nodding his head as he examined the map. "A couple days before the comet comes, the Western fleet should anchor around Ember Island while the Southern fleet stays around Roku's island. Then, when the comet comes we'll be in perfect position to gather in the middle and try to cut off the airships before they reach Wulong Forest." He suggested this idea as he used his pointer finger to draw invisible lines that drew out the route plans between both the fleets.

"Wait," Sokka spoke out, holding a hand up to pause the conversation. "Airships? Wulong Forest? What's going on?"

Zuko let out a long sigh, lacing his fingers together as he placed his hands onto the table. "When the comet arrives, my father and a fleet of airships are going to head towards the forest, using the power the comet provides to begin burning the Earth Kingdom to the ground."

"What!" Aang gasped, leaving over the table towards Zuko. "You've got to be kidding!"

"I wish I was, Aang." Zuko admitted, sadly looking down at the map that covered the table. "My father's airship will be setting off before the others. You can wait for him at the forest for your battle against him while our Navel fleet holds back his Air fleet. My uncle is meeting with the Order of the White Lotus to liberate Ba Sing Se. I'm going to have to go back to the Fire Nation to overthrow Azula."

"How am I supposed to fight Ozai alone? I haven't even learned firebending yet!"

"Aang," Zuko scoffed, rolling his eyes as he shook his head at the young Avatar. "You're in a fleet of eight large warships filled with firebenders. I think we'll be able to find you a teacher. Once the airships are taken care of you'll have a small army of men there to back you up. Don't worry about it." Zuko waved him off, causally assuring him that everything would be fine.

"I guess that makes me feel a little bit better," Aang mumbled as he buried his face into his palms, trying not to stress himself out too much. "So, what are we supposed to do now?" He asked, lifting his face away from his hand just enough so that his eyes peeped over his finger tips as he looked across the table over to Zuko.

Zuko sighed as he stood up, making his way back towards the door. "I suppose we get comfortable here, seeing as that we'll be on the ships for nearly a month until the comet arrives. An announcement for dinner will sound over the loudspeaker when it's ready." And with that, Zuko opened and slipped through the door, leaving the rest of the group still sitting around the table.

!

Katara sat curled up in Zuko's lap as he lounged on couch in the main sitting room of the ship.

"I miss you too much," He admitted, mumbling against the crook of her neck as he drew invisible circles on the skin of her shoulder. He was fighting a losing battle against sleep and had barely opened his mouth enough for the words to come out coherently.

She hummed against his chest, lazily lacing her fingers with his on his free hand. She was having a hard time fighting sleep as well when she suddenly felt a strong stirring in her stomach. She let out a gasp as she sat up abruptly, startling him out of the slumber he had just managed to fall into.

"What?" He asked, gripping her shoulder.

"Feel!" She ordered, taking the hand she had laced fingers with over to her stomach, placing his palm down against the side of her tummy.

They sat in silence for a few seconds, waiting before he let out his own gasp and sat up straight, pressing his hand against her stomach harder in attempt to get a better feel at what was going on inside. "Whoa!" He exclaimed, feeling little kicks against his hand through her skin.

"He's been doing that a lot lately," She laughed as she ran her hand through his hair, watching as the strands fell back down to cover his forehead. "It won't be much longer, now." She breathed, giving him small, happy smile.

He gulped as he leaned back against the armrest of the couch, running the hand he had previously placed upon her shoulder up and down her back, still keeping his other hand placed firmly against the side of her pregnant belly. "Have you told your father?" He asked softly, his eyes trained on hers.

"No," She shrugged and smiled wider before she leaned down to place her cheek up against his chest again. "Sokka did."

"What?" He gasped, leaning back further into the cushion to be able to look at her.

"Don't worry!" She laughed. "He wasn't mad." She returned her cheek to his chest, snuggling closely to him.

"Really? You're sure? Should I place guards at my door in case he tries to strangle me in my sleep?"

"I'm sure, Zuko!" She whined, ready to get to sleep already. She let out a huff, but continued anyways. "He was at first, but then we sat down and had a long talk. He knows what we've been through and what we mean to each other..." She trailed off, mumbling against him as she slowly slipped into the most peaceful slumber she had in weeks.

!

It was the end of a week into the waiting period of the operation. Aang had began to wake early enough to join the men in what they called 'meditation hour'. It began just before the sun rose and ended as soon as the final curve was above the horizon. They explained to him about how he needed to focus on the energy the sun blessed them with. The way the sun would rise and it's light would begin to fill the land, it's energy would also begin to fill their bodies.

Meditation was easy for him, having plenty of practice from a hundred years ago with the monks and whenever he was able to find the time during his travels. He thought the breathing exercises were pretty ridiculous at first, he had been breathing for years and figured he was pretty good at it, but he soon learned that the breath played a great deal in firebending and began to pay far more attention during his lessons.

He had even begun to play around with the fire from the torches that were placed about the walls of the ships and was getting better at learning how to guide and manipulate it properly. He was able to take the already blazing flames and stretch them out to arms length and shoot them forward towards whoever he had been training with. He was sure that within the next couple of days he was going to be able to produce his own fire and begin really progressing in the skill.

Aang had come to terms with the fact that he was probably not going to be able to master fire by the time the comet arrived, but he was sure he was going to be able to learn plenty enough to be able to use it against Ozai for when they fought. Zuko had taught him the redirection technique and he had even watched him and Saburo practice with their combustion, though Aang he was no where near ready to begin learning how to do that any time soon. He didn't really mind all this, knowing that he had three other mastered elements to use against the Fire Lord.

He sat beside Sokka on one of the many stools they had placed onto the deck of the ship for music night. Aang had just taken a sip of his tea when he heard Sokka begin to choke on some noodles he had just tried to swallow.

"Are you okay?" He asked, patting the warrior on the back.

Sokka coughed and cleared his throat before he pointed toward the front door of the ship. "Look." He croaked, still struggling on the noodles. Aang followed his gaze towards the two men he had pointing at. Zuko had been leaning against the wall that was just beside the door and Hakoda had just approached him after spotting him while he passed through the walkway.

They were sitting far enough from the band that was playing didn't drown out their words, but they were far enough to where their gawking and eavesdropping couldn't be easily detected.

"So, uh, Zuko," They heard Hakoda ask as he crossed his arms over his chest. Zuko turned to face him, greeting him with a 'hey' they saw him say, but couldn't hear. The two boys looked at each other, nodded, and then scooted their stool and upside down bucket closer towards the conversation a bit to be able to hear better. "I've heard you've taken quite a liking to my daughter?"

"Oh!" Zuko pushed himself off the wall and scratched the back of his neck nervously has he turned to face Hakoda. "Uh, yes.., sir. I uh- yes, I have." Zuko swallowed hard, brushing his hair out of his eyes as he stood up as straight as he could. "And uh, about that..." He paused to let out a huff. His nerves were beginning to get the better of him already. He nervously patted his right front pocket, checking to make sure the stone he had on him at all times since he got it was where it should be, along with the ribbon he had recently gotten to go with it.

Zuko hummed as he glanced around his surroundings frantically. The expression Hakoda wore on his face was a blank one and Zuko had no way to tell what he could possibly be thinking. "Uh, I don't know if this is the way I'm supposed to do this, or if this is the way you do it in the Southern Water Tribe," He paused to take in a deep breath as he slowly pulled the necklace from his pocket. "But, uh, you know." He finished weakly, holding the necklace out to Hakoda.

Aang nearly choked on his tea after turning to see the look of pure shock Sokka held on his face.

Hakoda took in a long inhale of air as he slowly took the ends of the ribbon between his fingers, stretching the ribbon out in front of him to get a good look at the fabric and the stone that was secured with a clasp in the middle. He examined it carefully, rubbing the obviously expensive silk fabric between his fingers as he studied the craftsmanship of the carvings in the stone.

Aang's bowl of noodles fell out of his lap as he lunged over to his left to catch Sokka before he fell over faint onto the steel floor of the ship. He was able to catch him by the collar of his shirt and eased him down on the floor onto his side.

"Sokka!" Aang whispered through clinched teeth, using one hand to shake him while he flicked him in the cheek with the other. "Get up, get up, we gotta see what happens!"

"Huh? Wh-what's happening?" Sokka mumbled, rubbing his head as he slowly looked around.

"Get up!" Aang tugged on him hard, pulling him back up onto the upside down bucket he had been using as a chair.

"What's going on...? Oh!" Sokka shifted onto his make-shift seat, getting himself comfortable as he watched everything unfold before him.

Hakoda slowly looked up at the young man before him. Zuko bit his lip and shifted a bit. The way Hakoda was staring at him was making him even more nervous than he already was. If he didn't say or do something soon, Zuko was sure he was going to fall into a terrible fit of shakes from no longer being able to control his nerves. Zuko could feel his stomach in his throat and his heart in his ears. Just before he was sure he was going faint, he saw a smile spread across the Chief's face. Thank Agni!

"I know the both of you make each other very happy," He smiled even wider as he held his hand out to Zuko for him to take. "I'd be so honored and more than happy to call you my future son-in-law." Zuko let out a big sigh of relief as he took Hakoda by the forearm.

"Thank you, sir! -"

"But!" Hakoda suddenly tightened his grip on Zuko's arm. "You have to propose while both Sokka and I are present. I'm sure he'd hate not seeing the expression on her face just as much as I would." He released Zuko's arm and handed him the necklace.

"Of course, sir. Now if I can just muster up the gut to do it." He joked, folding the ribbon around the stone and returning it back to it's place in his pocket.

Hakoda laughed. "You mean she's more intimidating than me?"

"Well, I figured since we're surrounded by the men that are being paid to protect me I'd be okay if something went wrong, I had planned on asking her in private."

"Ah, I see. Well, good luck with that." Hakoda nodded and smiled, patting Zuko on the shoulder as he made he way further onto the deck, into the crowd of soldiers that were enjoying the music night.

!

Another week went by and it was music night again. Zuko spotted Katara sitting at one of the make-shift tables they had on the deck of the ship, sipping some tea after taking a bite out of some seaweed bread. He made his way over to her and held his hand out.

"Come on," He said, motioning for her to come to him. "Dance with me."

"What?" She asked this as if she had just heard startling news, causing him to laugh a little. She glanced around as she sank down, away from him. "I don't know how!" She admitted through a whisper.

"I'll teach you!" He gently took her by the upper arm and tugged her up towards him, insisting that she join him.

"Zuko," She whined, looking back towards where she was just sitting. "I don't know about this."

"It'll be fine." He ran his hand down her arm, taking her hand into his.

He had her face him as he held her right hand in his and had them stand arm lengths away from the other. "This is one of the older dances we do."

He held is free hand out away from him as he turned his right side to her and took a step forward, instructing her to do the same as he turned to the other side to repeat the step with the other foot. Once they were facing each other again he took her other hand and he laced their fingers together, spinning both them around two times before lifting their arms up for them both to spin underneath the arch before he let her left hand go, having her spin out away from him before he tugged on her for her to come back to him.

She let out a small 'ooph' sound as she crashed back into him after losing her footing from spinning so much. "Why does this have so much spinning?" She asked, gripping his shoulders to support herself up.

"It's supposedly inspired by how the dragons would duel up in the air," He informed as he gently placed his hands onto her hips. "They would hook claws and spin around, using their fire when they weren't latched to each other and plummeting to their death in a downwards spiral."

"Oh," She laughed lightly, looking over his shoulder to the open space, imagining the beasts breaking apart just before they crashed into the ocean.

"Would you like to try again?" He asked, lifting his hands to gently take her by the wrists. She hummed and nodded.

As she backed away from him, she looked over her shoulder to make sure she wasn't about to run into anyone. Zuko took this moment for his advantage, and motioned for Hakoda and Sokka to come over while she wasn't looking.

They repeated the dance, Katara not crashing into him this time as he placed one hand on her hip while he laced their fingers together with the other. They took a couple, simple steps like this before he told her that when he let her go, she would spin three more times without him before she faced him again and the dance was completed. She nodded before he released her, holding her arms out to her sides a bit as she spun.

When she finally came to halt, she was surprised to see him standing there holding out a necklace to her. Her hand immediately lifted up to her neck, her necklace must have fallen off during all her twirling, but instead of meeting bare skin, her fingertips pressed against the stone that was clasped to the ribbon she always wore. It wasn't her mother's necklace he was holding out to her, it was a new one.

She reached out for it before she suddenly flinched back, her hand covering her mouth as she began to cry. She knew she wouldn't be able to speak through her tears, so she simply nodded her head as she wrapped her free arm around him, placing her forehead against his chest as she cried. Zuko put his arms around her, holding her close to him as he spoke softly into her ear.

"I know your mother's necklace is important to you. You don't have to wear this one if you don't want to." He whispered to her, assuring her that he would understand if she refused to wear the one he had made for her.

She hummed as she backed away from him, slipping the new necklace from his hand to look at it. As looked up to him as she wiped away at her tears with the backside of her arm, surprised to see both her brother and father approaching from not too far away.

"Congratulations!" Sokka exclaimed, throwing his arm over Zuko's shoulders. "Welcome to the family, Zuzu!" He smiled as he patted Zuko hard on the shoulder.

"I'm so happy for you, Katara." Hakoda said softly, pulling her into a hug.

"So, since we're pretty much related now, this means I get a whole wing of the palace to myself, right?" Sokka asked, placing his fists onto his hips.

"A whole wing?" Zuko asked. "How about just one personal room on one of the floors in one of the wings." He made sure to put emphasis on every 'one' in the sentence. Sokka's hands and shoulders fell as he let out a groan of disappointment.

Sokka's eyes flicked over to his left, where Katara was holding out the necklace to their father. "I wanna see!" Sokka said, plucking the necklace from her hand before Hakoda had a chance to take it. "I haven't seen it yet!" He held the ribbon out in front of his face to examine the fabric and the stone. Katara shot him a dirty look before she realized a few people had been missing in action. A couple, to be exact. Two other people who were also very important to her.

"Where are Aang and Toph?" She asked softly, scanning the crowed of people that covered the deck. They shouldn't be that hard to find, being some of the shortest ones, and not covered in Fire Navy armor, but she still had trouble spotting them through the sea soldiers.

"Over there," Zuko nudged her before he pointed out towards the pair. Sokka turned around to the direction Zuko was pointing to as he looked up from the necklace.

Katara aw'd at the sight of Aang trying to teach Toph one of the dances the people used to do a hundred years ago in the ballrooms of Ba Sing Se, only to have Toph shake her head at him, holding a hand up to assure him that she wasn't interested. Instead of leaving, Aang took her by the hand she had raised and pulled her into a dance that looked as though he was making up on the spot for the both of them.

!

The night went on and music night continued into the late hours. The group sat leaning up against the front wall of the superstructure, watching as a group of soldiers performed a dance that went along with an ancient chant of the Fire Nation.

It was surreal, sitting there on that ship while this went on during the night. It was like a celebration on the water, no worries, as if they weren't in the middle of a mission, in the middle of a hundred year war. Watching the men and women do the moves so perfectly as some of the older ones chanted made Zuko feel terribly guilty, but also incredibly hopeful.

It was his great-grandfather's fault that these things no longer happened in the mainland. People used to celebrate like this all the time, whenever they wanted, just because of how blissful and peaceful it was in the land at that time. Sozin had began the war to spread that happiness, but it dwindled as the war continued on. Seeing the people, these soldiers perform the movements that told the founding of the Fire Nation and it's rise to greatness gave Zuko an immense feeling of hope that all of that glory that had been lost could be returned.

He was going to do it, or die trying. He knew it was going to be a terribly difficult task. The Gaang had told him of their journey through the land and how bad it was in some places they visited. He had already been somewhat aware of how bad it was, but after hearing their stories, he learned that it had gotten far worse since his banishment. He pushed these thoughts out of his mind and focused on the celebration before him.

"This is what I want so badly for the Fire Nation again," He admitted softly to Katara, who sat by his side to the right. "I've got my work cut out for me, though."

"We've got our work cut out for us," She corrected, lacing their fingers together as she rested her temple onto his shoulder. "But that's never stopped us before, now has it?" She asked, leaning back to look at him.

"No, I suppose it hasn't." She smiled and placed her cheek onto his shoulder as she shifted closer to him for extra warmth during this chilled night.

She let out a huff as her face and shoulders fell, realizing something. "You're not going to let me help with Azula, are you?"

"Were you really expecting that I would?"

"No," She admitted softly. But she knew she was going to go anyways and stay by Appa, just in case anything terrible did happen she could swoop in and do whatever she needed to taker Azula down.

!

The next day, everyone was sitting around the breakfast table when Katara noticed Sokka's odd mood. He hadn't said or word and very much to her surprise, had barely touched his food.

"Sokka," She called out for him softly. "Is something wrong?"

He let out a huff and poked at piece of his broiled fish with his chopsticks. "I've just... it's just that... after all of this is over, we're all going to be so far apart from each other. Katara and Zuko, you guys are going to be in the Fire Nation, Aang, you'll probably be going around the world for a victory tour, you probably want to return home, Toph, and I'll be out looking for Suki or going back to the South Pole with dad. We're properly hardly ever gunna see each other, if at all..." Sokka's voice faded away softly as he held his head low, hiding his face away from everyone.

"Sokka, don't be silly. We'll see each other plenty!" Aang assured, giving him a big smile even though he wasn't looking.

"How?" He asked, lifting his head to look at him from across the table.

"Well, we never did get to go ride the hopping llama's or the wild hog monkey's, and you guys didn't ride the elephant koi with me. We've still got a few good adventures to go on together!" He exclaimed, smiling wide as held his arms out to his sides. His smile faded and his arms dropped as he noticed the mix of sad and serious looks on everyone's faces.

"But, I guess we do have some more important things to attend to first." He sighed out sadly, knowing that they had a lot of rebuilding to do. The nations and their relationships with the others. "But, we'll do all those things together, too!" He figured, knowing they would all probably end up needing each other's help at some point in time.

"And you'll be the there for the baby's birth, and Zuko and I's wedding, right?" Katara asked, looking for more examples of when they would hopefully see each other again in the future. Sokka nodded. "And there'll be celebrations and birthday's and holiday's and maybe even some get-together's for no reason!" She shrugged.

"I guess so." He huffed, still feeling a bit down.

He was so happy and so relieved that the war was finally coming to an end, but the thought of not having everybody around and not seeing everybody anymore not only saddened him, it scared him as well. He had always had Katara by his side and had spent nearly a year with Aang, Zuko, and Toph. He had even started to begin craving tea from the best brewer on earth, Iroh. He would miss his jokes and good advice, along with all the other good traits everyone else had. It would be a bitter-sweet experience he honestly had some trouble looking forwards to.

* * *

**A/N: **Why do I keep ending on sad note's of Sokka? I promise this isn't foreshadowing! I love him too much. He originally said 'Welcome to the family, big bro' but in the series, when Pakku states that he and Kanna remarried, Sokka says to him, 'Welcome to the family, Grampgramp'. So, I figured Zuzu would be more fitting.

'... plummeting to their death in a downwards spiral,' Oh, how romantic of you, Zubear!


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N:** Enjoy!

* * *

Aang made his way out onto the deck of the ship during a quiet afternoon, Momo perched upon his shoulder. He had begun to really freak himself out about thinking of how he was probably going to have to kill Fire Lord Ozai in order to finally end the war for good. He came out onto the deck to try and clear his mind as he watched the waves crash against the hull of the ship. When he leaned over the railing, he was surprised to see an island he was sure didn't make up part of the Air Temples territory.

He turned and look around the deck of the ship before he turned back around to face it, readying his glider before he hopped over the side, coasting over the water over to the land. He didn't really understand once he set foot on the stone. He couldn't bend it and he had first thought he had gone into the Spirit World without realizing, but Momo had followed after him and was able to see him. With all of the confusion he meditated and called upon his past lives.

Roku stated that he didn't know were Aang was, and asked about how he was dealing with the current pressures he was under. Aang spoke with him about his troubles thoughts of the act he may have to perform and also asked the three Avatar's that came before him in search of help as well. After hearing all their thoughts on the matter, Aang came to the conclusion, much to his torment, that he would have to kill Ozai.

He let out a huffed and down onto the stone, thinking hard, trying to come up with a solution other than murder.

!

Sokka hummed and placed a hand over his chin as he thought hard about a very important matter. "I got it!" He exclaimed, holding his arms out to his sides. "How about Hakodai! That way his name is way more our dads than... yours." He ended sourly, giving Zuko a face as he pointed to him.

Katara and Zuko had been discussing names for their son when Katara had confessed that she wanted to name him after both of their fathers, much to everyone's surprise. Zuko huffed at this, insisting that they name the baby after his uncle, the one who really deserved it, reminding her that Iroh had been the one who had really been a father to him, but Katara was relentless.

She went on to tell them about how even though Ozai doesn't really deserve it at all, if it weren't for him, they wouldn't be where they were and neither would that baby. If it hadn't been for Ozai banishing Zuko, he would have never met of met her, fell in love with her, or become the great man he was turning out to be.

"That's a great name, Sokka!" Katara clapped her hands together and laced her fingers together, thrilled to finally find a name they could settle on.

Zuko groaned and crossed his arms over his chest. "I still think we should name him after Uncle." He admitted, scrunching his face and pouting at Katara.

"Don't worry," She said as she raised a hand to his face, taking his cheeks and mushing them towards the other to make fun of his pouting at her. "If it's a boy, we'll name the next one after him!" She released him, laughing as she turned away from him, seeing the look of shock he gave her after she pretty much confessed to him that she would be wanting another baby sometime after this one.

"Uh, guys?" They heard her call out from the deck of the ship.

"Yeah?" Sokka asked, joining his sisters side.

"I haven't seen Aang all day. I thought he would be out here. The helmsman said he saw him come out here earlier in the afternoon and it's already just about dark. Where is he?" She asked, turning to face Sokka and Zuko, who had now both joined her out onto the deck.

Sokka shrugged and waved her off as he turned away from her, stating that he was sure Aang was fine and that it was nearly dinnertime. Zuko sighed and placed his arm around her waist, assuring her that he was fine and probably just roaming about the buildings about the Air Temples.

The Air Nomads Western territory consisted of four islands, but the actual buildings were upside down, underneath one of the cliffs on the far side of the main island. They were currently anchored in the bay between the mainland and the front island, so Aang must had traveled a bit to get to the buildings if that's were he was. Zuko was sure that Aang would be making his way back soon, if he wasn't already.

"But what if he's not?" She asked, a look of worry filling her eyes.

"The fleet is moving towards Ember Island tonight, we've only got a day until the comet." He reminded her sternly. They honestly didn't have the time for a game of hide-and-go-seek and they had already began to lift their anchors from the bay to begin cutting a path straight to Ember Island, they had no time to go searching for Aang.

!

"-So, if everything ready for our departure?" Azula asked, kneeling behind her father as they began to prepare for their leave to Wulong Forest.

"There has been a change of plans, Azula." He admitted to her calmly.

_"What's the matter?" _The girls voice, the waterbender that traveled with the Avatar suddenly echoed out into Azula's mind, much to her surprise and confusion, as if her father's sudden change of plans weren't enough already.

"I've decided to lead the fleet of airships to Ba Sing Se alone," He informed, making sure to put emphasis on the word 'alone' as he remained turned away from her.

_"Not daddy's favorite anymore?" _Azula let out a small growl and slammed her eyes shut, forcing the girls words from her mind as she tried to focus on her father's voice as he went on to tell her that she would be staying there, in the Fire Nation. _"I bet Zuko is with him,"_

"But," Azula huffed. "I thought we were going to do this together?" She asked, lifting her head and opening her eyes to look at him.

"My decision is final."

"It was my idea to burn everything to the ground! I deserve to be by your side!" She spoke quickly, through huffs as she stood, pleading to be able to join him.

"Azula!" He snapped, scolding her for her outburst. Azula huffed, composing herself as she listened carefully to his voice and his voice alone as he continued on to tell her that he needed her there to watch over the homeland. _"While you're left here," _The girl's voice proved strong, and continued to ring out in her mind no matter how hard she tried to fight it. Ozai turned around to face her and went on to tell her that for her loyalty, he would have her crowned as Fire Lord while he would take on a new title as Phoenix King. _"To fend for yourself." _

Azula swallowed hard and shifted, surprised by just how much all of this was affecting her. There was nothing she could do about what had just happened, though, but she was rather happy with the fact that she would be the new Fire Lord. She nodded and watched as he boarded his airship. She stood still until it was nearly out of view before she turned and made her way back to the palace to begin preparing for her coronation.

!

Hakoda tightened his arms around his daughter to bring her closer to him, hugging her for what could very well be the last time. The majority of the soldiers were preparing to raise the anchors again after spending the day in the water's around Ember Island while a few of them geared Appa up with his saddle and reins.

"I love you so much, Katara," He assured her as he rubbed her shoulder before he loosened his grip he held on her. "You and Zuko stay safe, alright?" He asked, running a thumb over her cheeks to wipe away at the tears that raced down her cheeks.

She pulled further away from him, sniffling as she did so. "You too," Her voice shook through her tears. "All of you." She said, holding her arms out for Sokka, then Toph. She let out a light laugh as Sokka leaned down to wiggle a finger at her stomach, telling Hakodai to stay safe as well and to watch out for his mommy.

Zuko held his hand out to Katara as she climbed up into Appa's saddle. "This is it," He breathed out, noticing the orange color begin to cast over everything in sight.

She huffed as she sat down into the saddle. Aang still hadn't returned and she was terribly worried for him. "What about Aang?" She whined, looking up to him before he turned to take the reins.

"I don't know, but the fleet will begin heading towards the airships any moment now." Zuko turned to look down at a few of the soldiers that were still on the deck after helping him prepare Appa for flight. "Thank you all for joining and supporting me. There's one more thing I need all of you to do: Stay safe."

They nodded and bowed to him, assuring him that they would. Zuko let out a huff before he pulled on the sky bison's reins, silently telling him to take off into flight.

!

Aang sat up abruptly, surprised by the fact that he had fallen asleep.

"Oh, no!" He exclaimed as he stood up, running towards the edge of the island. He came to a sudden halt, realizing that the waves weren't coming up the shore, but being cut through as if he was on a ship. "It's moving," He whispered to himself, unaware that Momo had perched himself up onto a branch behind the young Avatar. Aang took a deep breath in before he dove deep down into the water, shocked to see a giant paw press through the water in a swimming motion.

Aang made his way back up to the surface, seeing Momo waiting for him up in the branch. "Momo! You won't believe what you're sitting on right now! The biggest animal in the world!" Aang took in another breath of air before he went back under the water to swim around in search of the beasts face.

He had made it a good ways around before he suddenly felt the water around him begin to move, bringing him upwards to the surface. He coughed out a bit of water, and patted at the paw that had lifted him up. He lifted his face to see a pair of giant eyes staring down at him.

It was a lion turtle, a creature that must be one of the oldest in the world. Aang was very well aware of the power and wisdom these ancient animals held, and bowed before him before asking if he could help him. He confessed that everyone he knew, including his previous lives were expecting him to end someone's life, and he wasn't sure he would be able to go through with it.

The lion turtle answered and told him, "The true mind can weather all the lies and illusions without being lost. The true heart can tough the poison of hatred without being harmed. Since beginning-less time, darkness thrives in the void but always yields to purifying light." Aang remained calm as the majestic beast raised his other paw to him, gently placing a claw on the center of his forehead and the other in the center of his chest. His jaw dropped, though, when he felt an immense rush of power flow throughout his body, realizing that the lion turtle had just blessed him with an ability he had been aware existed.

The lion turtle placed him onto one of the cliffs of the shore he had brought him to. Aang bowed as the turtle sank down into the water after telling him to wait and that he, Ozai, would come. Aang turned around, realizing that he had been brought to the shore of Wulong Forest, the place where Ozai had planned to begin burning everything to the ground.

Aang found a nice, natural stone pillar to stand on as he waited, the sky's color beginning to change as the comet began to cross into the atmosphere.

!

Zuko was surprised to see just how empty the coronation ceremony was for Azula as they approached. Only the High Sage, a small group of other sages, Mai, and Ty Lee were there with Azula as she kneeled down, the High Sage holding the head piece out above her head as he prepared to crown her Fire Lord. He had expected the Dai Li and Li and Lo to be there, along with a whole gathering of people. Zuko furrowed his brow and shook his head at himself, returning his focus to the task in front of him. He could see the expressions on everyone's face change as they noticed the sky bison lowering down to the ground.

"What are you waiting for?" He heard Azula's impatient voice call out as she turned to face the High Sage, noticing the look on his face brought her turn back around only to see her brother standing before her.

"There's been a change of plans," He said, very much to her surprise. "You're not going to become Fire Lord today. I am."

"Oh! Are you?" She asked as she stood up, glaring down at her from the platform she stood on. "You're hilarious." She smirked and watched as he remained still, his expression blank. The High Sage glanced at the others over his shoulders before he lifted his arms up to continue placing the crown onto Azula, but before he could lower it completely, Zuko sent a small blast to burst just before his hands, causing him to instinctively flinch back and remove the crown from her.

Azula looked back towards the Sage and saw the expression of shock on his face and the crown still being held in his hands. She narrowed her eyes further as she turned back around to face Zuko before she took a step towards him. "You want to be Fire Lord? Fight me for it. Agni Kai!" She called out, leaning down towards him a bit, annoyed by how unreadable he had become over the years during his travels and honestly amused at the fact that he believed he as going be crowned Fire Lord instead of her.

"Fine." He said simply, shrugging as if this were something that was going to be easy, when in reality, this could very well end up being a fight to the death.

Just as Azula began to make her way down the steps, she was absolutely stunned when she heard an all too familiar voice call out from behind her. She turned around only to see Mai flinching back, started herself by her own sudden outburst.

"What?" Azula growled, glaring up at the girl. Zuko glanced over towards the sky bison, noticing the pure look of horror and shock Katara wore on her face as she peeped over the side of the saddle.

Mai shifted and stood up tall as she swallowed hard. "No." She repeated sternly, returning the glare right back down to Azula. "You're not going to hurt Zuko."

Azula's face fell before it twisted into an expression of anger and confusion. "What are you doing?" She asked. "You don't know what mistake you're making, Mai," She informed as calmly as she could, feeling herself begin to lose her temper.

"No, you're mistaken, Azula. I love Zuko, more than I fear you." Mai admitted, standing completely calm before the enraged Princess.

_"Not the favorite anymore? After Zuko-"_

"Challenging me, betraying me during the comet!" Azula growled, shouting at Mai as she completely lost her temper. "That is the worst mistake you could have made!" Azula began to shift, Mai followed suit, bearing her blades in her hands to use against her former friend. Just before Azula completed the movements she needed to produce what everyone was sure was lightening, daggers flew out from under Mai's sleeves, pulling Azula down to the ground by her robe.

Azula let out a growl and kicked, two large streams of fire shooting out towards Mai from the bottom of her feet. Mai was able to dodge the line of fire and as Azula was getting back to her feet Mai attempted to throw some blades at her, but rock formed around her feet, leaving her unable to get into a strong stance. She let out a huff and regain her balance before she fell over forwards and flung her arm out into the direction of a Dai Li agent. They had obviously heard the commotion and came over.

Mai prepared herself to be taken out by the two agents that were headed her way, but as they passed Ty Lee, very much to everyone's surprise, she jutted her arms out and disabled their bending. Azula saw and went to go after Ty Lee, but just before she could take a complete step forward a wall of fire was brought up in front of her. She turned and saw Zuko standing there, motioning for her to come to him.

She did. She went after him, sending plenty of fire blasts his way, but he just spun around and dodged them all, which just frustrated her more. Her moves were becoming more and more sloppy and desperate with every one he was able to avoid. She let out a growl of frustration and sent a large, on going blast of fire towards him. She let it go on for about ten seconds before she began to let up, expecting to see him curled up, deflecting the fire. It was more than surprising to see him there, just before her, running towards her through the flames.

Zuko grabbed her by the wrists and pulled her down to the ground. Azula turned and used a foot to send a line of fire at his feet. He jumped up over it and punched the air, sending balls of fire towards her. She continued to roll, his fire blasts barely missing her upper arms. After rolling a good ways away from him, she hopped up while in the air, she began to generate lightening to use against him once she gained her footing. She extended her arms out towards him, sending a strong current of electricity towards him. Zuko used the redirection and sent back right back towards her.

Azula gasped and jumped out of the way, watching the bolt of lightening set one of the near by houses up in flames. She turned back towards him just in time to hop backwards, after he had tried to have a small explosion happen at her feet, small enough to not do her any serious harm, jut large enough to scorch her legs. She let out a series of huffs. Had she turned around a second later, she would have been burned, and she would have lost so much more than just the Agni Kai.

While Azula went back towards Zuko, Mai and Ty Lee continued battling the Dai Li. Mai had been able to free herself from the stone they had encased around her ankles and managed to pin two more of them down while Ty Lee hopped around the place, eluding just about every single stone hand they sent her way. One was able to catch her left foot, bringing her to the ground. One of the men made the mistake of getting too close to her as he tried to pin to her down and she was able to reach out and disable his legs. He fell to a half paralyzed beside her and before he could use his hands and arms to bend anything, blades caught him by the sleeves and pinned him to the ground next to the acrobat.

Mai went to go help Ty Lee up, but the sound of a struggle from behind caught her attention. She spun around, only to see the waterbender struggling to get away from two agents that had pinned her arms behind her back. Mai glanced over her shoulder, making sure Ty Lee had gotten up. She nodded once, giving her the signal to go after the agents. Ty Lee somersaulted over and took out one of the men. Now having one arm free'd Katara was able to take water from the air and blast it towards the other man, sending him flying backwards into one of the pillars that was holding up an awning of someone's house nearby.

The three turned to face the duel between the siblings, but immediately flinched back and shielded their eyes from the bright light a large explosion was giving off. Everything went completely silent as an odd calm fell over the world around them. They all began to lower their arms just as the smoke was beginning to clear. A figure was on the ground, curled up with their arms crossed over their face. A bit more of the smoke cleared up and it blood on the persons arms was obvious and the smell of burnt hair began to rise.

Katara huffed as tears began to well up in her eyes. The smoke was clearing, but it was still too much to be able to tell who it was. She took a single step down towards where the duel had taken place. "Zuko?" She called, her voice shaking with fear and worry. Just before she bolted towards the person, they moved. It was Azula.

The sides of her arms and parts of her hair been burnt. Everyone stood still and silent as she sat up and began to examine herself. Realizing that she had lost, she jumped up and went to attack Zuko again, but knowing what was about to happen, Ty Lee jumped over the stairs and ran towards Azula, reaching her and taking out her bending just in time. Zuko stepped out of the wall of smoke that was still settling as Ty Lee bounded back towards the Sages and Azula fell limply to the ground.

Ty Lee glanced around frantically before she tugged on the High Sage's robes. "Crown Zuko!" She gasped out in a rushed voice, unsure of what was going to happen next, or if the men would even consider going against Ozai's demand.

"Very well," He said, very much to everyone's surprise.

Azula gasped, shocked by his words. "What? How dare you defy my father! It is his order to declare me Fire Lord!" She shouted at the High Sage as a couple of the other men began to gingerly lift her up.

"Our apologies, Azula," One of the men said softly as he began to pull her away. "But we do not believe he will be present after this day."

!

Sokka watched in horror as he saw one of the airships fall from the sky, only to crash into one of the disabled Navy ships, bursting in a small explosion of flames on impact. These ships could hold hundreds of men, and he was sure the airships could as well. All of soldiers, all of those people. Fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters. Gone. Just like that.

"Sokka, watch out!" He heard his father's voice call out to him. Sokka looked around frantically, lifting his head to see a metal piece from one of the airships plummeting towards him. He jumped out the way just in time, barely twisting out of the way of a fire blast one of the soldiers had sent towards one of the airships that had lowered down terribly close to the water.

The young Water Tribe warrior shot a glare towards the airship and shifted the boomerang he held in his hand into a proper position. It was one he had plucked from the weapon wall and had no ties to it at all and would feel no remorse if he lost it. He reeled his arm back before tossing the weapon out towards one of the engines on the side of the airship. With a turn of the boomerang, it managed to wedge it's self into the engine, messing up the blades and other mechanisms inside. The airship began to tilt, and ended up crashing into the water on it's side, men scurrying to get out of the sinking vessel and onto it's dry side.

He began looking around again, having to do a double take as he saw blasts of fire and lightening out of the corner of his eye. He turned around and faced towards the forest, watching as a great bolt of lightening went up into the air.

"What is it?" He heard Bato ask him through huffs before he threw whatever weapon he had been holding out towards one of the airships.

"It's Aang!" Sokka exclaimed, realizing just who Ozai must have been dueling. Bato and Sokka kneeled down, holding their arms out over their heads after seeing a burst of light appear over them. They looked up to see the half metal man standing on the balcony of the ship to their left. They stared as he stared back to them and nodded once, assuring them silently that he had them covered. He had used his combustion to implode a bunch of metal debris that fallen from one of the airships above them before it got the chance to smash them into the steel floor of the ship they were standing on.

They stood back and continued to watch the man as he single handedly took out another airship. "It's a great thing we've got that guy on our side." Bato said before he turned away from Sokka, taking his attention back to some airships on their right.

Sokka nodded and swallowed hard, trying to control his frantic breathing as he turned and looked out to the water's behind the ship he was on. The ocean was littered with soldiers and wreckage, from both Zuko and Ozai's fleet. Zuko's fleet had been proving superior, despite the fact that the airships numbers doubled that of the Navy vessels. The Naval Fleet had managed to take down all but four of the sixteen airships while they had only taken out two of their eight sea vessels. The ships had been able to strike before they had even been seen by the airships, which allowed them to take out plenty within just a few, short minutes. Two of the airships were currently struggling to stay up in the air, while the other pair were still managing to hold up, but Sokka knew this would not last much longer.

He caught a glint out of the corner of his eye again and turned back towards his left, watching as the combustion man lifted his head to better aim his third eye at one of the stronger airships to weaken it for the normal firebenders on the decks of the ships to take out easily. Sokka let out a big sigh as he felt an immense weight lift off his shoulders. The airships were nearly all taken care of, he was sure Zuko would be able to handle Azula, and Aang would be able to defeat Ozai.

It was nearly over. This hundred year war. The very war his grandfather's had died fighting in, the war his father left to go fight in, the war he himself was fighting in right now. It was almost over. Finally, finally over. He swallowed hard and composed himself before he got too emotional and looked up to the tower of the ship, watching as a hunk of stone was projected out of one of the custom windows that had been cut into the ship specifically for Toph.

Someone was in the same room as her, pointing her in the direction of the airships. Zuko had gotten the whole room filled to the brim with stone slabs for her to use against the opposing fleet. Originally, only a small path would have cut from the door to the main window, but Sokka was sure that she had just about used up all of her ammo by now.

He figured it didn't matter as he noticed another one of the airships begin to descend from the sky, only to crash into the water, a second one following behind, ending with the same fate as the airship before it not long after the other one went down.

Sokka turned and let out gasp, hearing someone let out a cry not far from him. He turned to see Admiral Jee laying down flat on his back, his arm covered by a sheet of twisted metal. Sokka called out to him as he rushed over to his side, picking up and tossing the metal up off him as fast as he could.

"Oh my goodness!" Sokka gasped at the sight of the gash in the mans arm. He had been able to see the bone before the blood began to seep into the cut, filling and pouring out, dripping down the Admiral's arm. Jee grunted and sat up, bringing his right hand up over his chest to grasp the shoulder of his wounded arm.

"Is it bad?" He asked, refusing to look at the damage.

"Uh," Sokka stammered, unsure of what to tell him.

"Ugh," Jee let out a weak sigh of pain as he began to lean over, he was beginning to lose blood fast. "I can't feel it." He admitted softly. His body was too fueled by adrenalin and was in even more shock after going through what all just happened to him.

"I think that's a good thing!" Sokka tore some fabric from his under shirt and wrapped it around his arm, just above the gash to cut of the circulation of blood the best he could. He swallowed hard and tried not look at the wound too much as he began to feel terribly faint. Now was no time to keel over, but the sight was sickening. The gash so deep you could have seen the bone and with the way it was sticking out in another part of the mans arm, clean though the skin, he wasn't sure if even Katara would be able to heal him properly. In fact, he wasn't too sure that Jee was going to end up keeping that arm at the end of this with the way it was broken in so many different places.

Sokka shuffled over to Jee's other side and had him put his arm around his shoulders as he he pulled him up. "Can you walk?" He asked, unsure if Jee hadn't wounded anywhere else. He nodded, assuring him that he was fine, but that he was weak and would still need his help getting to the medical floor. Sokka supported Jee as they made their way down the hall and into the back of the superstructure where the medical rooms where placed.

He eased Jee down onto one of the free beds, but dropped to his knees at the sight of someone who had somehow managed to get part of their leg cut clean off. Sokka huffed, fighting off the darkness that was beginning to fill his vision. He tried to compose himself the best he could as he stood back and leaned the side of his arm up against the wall, resting his forehead on his arm, focusing on his breathing as he fought the shakes in his knees.

He swallowed hard and let a huff as he left the room to slowly but surely make his way up the stairs that led up to the room Toph had been stationed in. He entered slowly, taking careful steps towards her as if he was attempting to sneak up on her.

"How you holding up?" He asked, keeping his head held low, avoiding looking at the battlefield that could be seen through the window before him at all costs.

"Fine, how bout you?" She asked as she punched the stone slab she had lifted, sending it hurdling out to crash into one of the last airships that still remained in the sky after one of the soliders pointed to it's direction. "You don't look too well," She said softly, taking his silence as a hint that he was't feeling too well, either. "It's pretty bad out there, huh?"

"Yeah," He breathed out quickly, trying to keep the shake in his voice undetectable, but she of course knew him too well and caught it. She turned to face him as she gently placed a hand onto armor covered shoulder. "You're so lucky you don't have to actually see it, Toph," He admitted through a shaky voice, sniffling to try and keep from crying. "You're so lucky."

She let out sigh and put her arms around him, letting him lean into as he tried to fight off these emotions that were creeping up on him at the most absolute of wrong times.

They began to pull away and he rested his forehead on hers before he lifted his mouth to place a small kiss on the spot where his head had previously been touching hers. "I'm sorry you have to see whatever it is you do, though." He said softly, gently giving her shoulder a small squeeze before he dropped his hand to his side.

She sighed again and assured him that it couldn't possibly be as bad as what he had to see. She kept from him the fact that she had remained focused on her stones and limited her seismic sense to only the room she was in to avoid the horror she was sure to be able to detect had she not ignored the vibrations they sent off to the best of her ability.

She had been able to detect some terrible crashes against her will, some even so large they traveled through the impact zone, the water, to the ship they were on and all the way up to her, but she hadn't actually seen anyone get terribly hurt.

Being on this near completely all metal ship had given her plenty of practice with metalbending and she was able to see far better now, but it was still easier to ignore the pictures the vibrations brought to her in metal than it was in pure stone. So she hadn't had a real problem of choosing what not to and what to see, but Sokka didn't really have this luxury if he wanted to stay aware of his surroundings, which was something he needed to do if he wanted to survive out there on the deck. They both tensed up as a siren began to sound.

"What's going on!" Toph asked, grasping onto Sokka's arm.

"I don't know!" He admitted as he looked around through the windows. He had just began to tell her that he couldn't see any airships around when a voice began to speak over the intercom.

"The final airship has just been taken out. Our Navel fleet is continuing to press forwards towards the forest to aid Avatar Aang in his battle against Ozai."

"You hear that, Toph!" Sokka exclaimed, swooping down and taking her into his arms again. "It's almost over!"

It didn't take long before ships were as close to the shore as they could get and the soldiers began to flood from the insides of the ship, gathering on the decks as they shielded their eyes from the bright light that suddenly began to erupt from one of the natural stone pillars not too far from them.

Sokka also had to cover his eyes, burying his face down into Toph's shoulder as he informed that something was happening. After she asked what and they both began to fill the ship begin to shift, he raised his head and opened his eyes, only to see Aang bending the water of the ocean upwards and towards him to bring the fleet closer to him.

Sokka pulled on Toph's arm, tugging her out of the room and down the stairs, running down the ramp just as it began to touch the dry ground of the shore. He guided Toph over to the pillar Aang had been standing on and told her to lift them up to him.

"You did it!" He exclaimed as he crossed the bridge Toph built them to get across the gap from one pillar to the other. "It's over, it's finally over! You did it, Aang! You did it!"

"We did it." Aang corrected as Sokka crashed into him, taking him into a victory hug.

"What was that bright light?" Sokka asked as he pulled away from him.

"I didn't have to kill him. Turns out there was another way. I took away his bending. For good."

"Whoa!" Toph let out a gasp. "Who taught you that?"

"A giant lion turtle."

"You really have got some of the weirdest friends." Sokka shook his head as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Yeah," Aang let out a small laugh. "Like you." He smiled, reusing the joke he had used during the invasion.

Toph stomped on the ground and lifted her hands up to bring a small group of soldier's up to the pillar they were on, knowing they were there to take Ozai and lock him away during their trip back to the Fire Nation.

* * *

**A/N: **Ozai had not firebent for nineteen minuets. All was well.


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N:** Enjoy!

* * *

One of the girls hummed as she examined Katara, trying to figure out exactly which robes would fit her well without having to be tailored.

"A waterbender?" One of the other female servants asked. Katara nodded and smiled. "Hm, I suppose it's fine as long as Prince Zuko is happy." She shrugged before she turned away from her, pushing hard on a bunch of robes that covered the walls of the large closet to be able to easily pluck one off the bar it hung on.

"You had better not get into a habit of calling him that," Another girl said as she held out a pair of shoes to Katara, silently asking her if she thought they would do. Katara shrugged and tried them on. "He'll be Fire Lord Zuko after today." She smiled and nodded at Katara, letting her know that she personally felt that shoes looked good on her.

A pair of girls carefully brushed through Katara's dark hair as they gasped and swooned over how healthy it was, surprised that someone would be able to take such good care of their hair during such endless travels like her own. They asked how she would like it done for her coronation, assuring her that they could try their best to have it look Water Tribe, or even experiment further and try to mix the two cultures together for a new, hybrid hairstyle. Katara shook her head and explained to them of how she had worn it during her travels through the land with Avatar and expressed to them that she felt the hairstyle would do just fine.

They pulled the top half of hair hair into a topknot and pulled forwards large strands from behind each ear, looping the bottoms and tying them with a red band as she had previously explained. One of the older female servants entered the room with a smile on her face before she stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes going wide at the sight of Katara.

"That's nearly just how Princess Ursa wore her hair," Katara heard her say to one of the younger girls from behind her hand in attempt to keep Katara from hearing this information. Katara furrowed her brow and was just about to ask if there was a problem when the woman began to speak before she got the chance to. "Are you sure you would like to wear your hair like that, Master Katara?" She asked sweetly, giving her what looked like to be a genuine smile, but Katara was sure the woman had just been well trained in giving a convincing take on the expression.

"Um, yes?" Katara asked, unsure as to why or how wearing her hair like this could possibly be such a big issue just because some 'Princess Ursa' had worn her hair in a similar fashion. The older servant nodded and began to aid the other girls in their search for the perfect robes for Katara to wear.

The rest of the dressing pretty much continued to go down hill from that. After the girls noticed her betrothal necklace and her pregnant belly, Katara wasn't sure whether or not to tell them the truth. They didn't ask much about it and Katara guessed that they had just figured that her and Zuko had met earlier on during his banishment and they must have gotten married then and were now expecting a baby, despite their young age.

This made her feel pretty uneasy, lying to her people before they were even actually hers. She hoped this wouldn't too big of a deal and tried not to freak herself out too much, assuring herself that when she was Fire Lady, her word would be final and it wasn't like their opinion would matter if they did have something negative to say about it. Katara let out a huff, silently hoping that this wasn't some kind of omen and that the people of the Fire Nation would like her and trust her, even if they didn't know that much about her.

She knew that it was going to be very shocking to everyone else, though. To find out that their Fire Lady had not been born in the Fire Nation, had previously not been of noble status in their land or considered royal in anothers, and that she was a waterbender. Everything the complete opposite of what she would normally have to be in order to be crowned Fire Lady. But then she smiled lightly, telling herself that this was the start of a new beginning and that things were going to be a lot different now that a new time of peace was on the horizon.

It shouldn't matter if she didn't hail from the Fire Nation or not, as long as she proved to be a good Fire Lady and honestly cared for the nation and the people of the nation's well being, things of difference like that shouldn't matter. It was going to be a time of accepting each other and welcoming peace and understanding with others that were different from you. Her and Zuko marrying was an example to the people all over the world that this could be done and was possible, and that good would come out of it.

Only the oldest servant said anything about her being pregnant at such a young age, but just as Katara was beginning to feel even more uneasy than she had been, the lady smiled and assured her that the Palace had some of the best medics in the land and that they would be able to handle the situation just fine.

After she pulled the final robe over her shoulders, she stood and thanked them for helping her before she expressed to them that she would prove to be a good Fire Lady. They bowed and smiled up at her, assuring her that she would do just fine as she turned and left the dressing room before she began to make her ways down one of the halls that led out to where her and Zuko were going to be crowned.

She paused and stood before a long mirror, examining herself in the reflection as she noticed a figure approaching her from behind. She let out a small, happy sigh as Zuko, who was draped head to toe in Fire Nation Royal robes, made his way over to her and slowly wrapped his arms around her waist, hugging her from behind as he rested his chin down onto her shoulder. He nuzzled the side of her neck and noticed the the clothes she was wearing. She was in some ceremonial Fire Nation robes of a maroon color with golden trimmings, the top robe equip with a shoulder piece that resembled his, but was of course smaller to better fit her shoulders.

"You're wearing those?" He asked as he stood up straight, surprised that she wasn't in her normal Southern Water Tribe attire.

She furrowed her brow and turned to face him properly as she rested her palms onto his shoulders. "I am going to be crowned Fire Lady, aren't I? Shouldn't I be wearing Fire Nation robes?"

"I suppose..."

"Besides," She shrugged. "I didn't bring any fancy clothes with us. I wasn't about to wear my old, grungy looking Water Tribe clothes for an occasion like this!"

They laughed, leaning towards each other to rest their foreheads together before they stole a quick kiss from the other.

He stared at her for awhile. She had just began to open her mouth to ask him if something was wrong, but he suddenly smiled and pulled her closer to him. "You look beautiful." He assured her before placing a small kiss onto her forehead. He smiled wider as he turned to face the end of the hall, holding his arm out for her to take. "Would you like me to escort you, Fire Lady Katara?" He asked, beaming down at her, not stopping himself when he had got the sudden urge to kiss her on the temple.

She wrapped her arms around his and smiled right back up at him. "Of course, Fire Lord Zuko."

They made their way down the hall, pausing just before the door, noticing Aang sitting there waiting for them to arrive.

"I can't believe a year ago my purpose in life was hunting you down," Zuko admitted, motioning towards the young Avatar.

"I can't believe I was back at the South Pole, probably sewing up some of Sokka's torn pants." Katara huffed out, still pretty annoyed that he would always shove his ripped clothing into her face after he had gotten them torn in some of the most clumsiest of ways.

Aang smiled and stood. "I can't believe I was trapped in an iceberg," He smiled wider and tilted his head towards Katara, silently reminding her that she had been the one to free him from it. He continued on, motioning towards the both of them as he spoke. "Now we're all best friends, you two are going to be getting married after you're crowned Fire Lord and Lady. Everything- the world is so different now."

"It's going to be even more different," Zuko took a couple steps towards Aang, gently placing his hand down onto his shoulder. "After we rebuild it together." Aang smiled and opened his arms out toward the both of them, sharing a group hug with them before they released each other and Zuko turned to lead them out to the front of the Coronation Plaza.

The Fire Sages sounded a gong as the Zuko stepped out before the large number of people that had gathered in front of the building. He held a hand up to pause their cheering before he turned and motioned towards Aang, who was farther back behind him, out of view.

"The real hero is the Avatar." Zuko informed, smiling as Aang joined his side. "The war is finally over!" Zuko exclaimed, thrilled to hear everyone cheer out in happiness. "I've promised my uncle that I would restore the Fire Nation's honor, and I will. It will be difficult and challenging. A hundred years of war as left the people of the world terribly divided, but with the Avatar's help, we can begin to move forwards on the right path. The one that will lead us into an a new age of togetherness. A time of love and peace among all of the people of all of the nations."

Aang smiled and turned towards Zuko as he began to kneel down, preparing to be crowned Fire Lord. Aang held his arm out, placing his arm around Katara's shoulders as she made her away over to him.

The High Sage walked over to Zuko, the Fire Lord's head piece held out in front of him in his hands. "All hail Fire Lord Zuko!" He placed the head piece into Zuko's topknot as he declared him Fire Lord. Zuko remained kneeled down, refusing to rise without Katara by his side. "And," The High Sage called out as he plucked the Fire Lady's head piece from another Sages hands as he motioned for Katara to join Zuko's side. She mimicked Zuko's position as she lowered down next to him, smiling as he laced their fingers together. "Fire Lady Katara!"

The couple stood up together, Zuko releasing her hand only to place his arm around her lower back as they looked out towards the crowed of people that stood before them. Aang made his way over to their side and beamed down at the crowd of people as they cheered for them all.

!

The group was currently hanging out in the new tea shop Iroh had bought and designed for himself in Ba Sing Se. Zuko had been leaning up against a wall, looking out one of the windows with Momo before he held his arm out for the lemur to scurry from his shoulder's to Aang's as the monk passed by. Zuko pushed himself off the wall and made his way over to Katara, sitting down onto the couch she had been lounging in, snuggling up close to her.

Sokka, who had been sitting at a table painting, let out a groan of annoyance before he called out to tell Zuko to pick a spot already so he could capture the moment. He went on to tell them all that he had been doing this painting so they would all be able to remember the good times together. Katara laughed and aw'd at him as she stood up and made her way over to him to get a look at what she was sure to be one of his many 'masterpieces'.

She placed a hand on the table to prop herself up as she leaned over to get a good look. "Hey!" She called out, noticing just how big and round he had made her pregnant belly out to be. "My tummy isn't that big!" She exclaimed, gently placing a hand on her baby bump.

As the rest of the Gaang made their way over, nearly all of them could point out something they deemed wrong in the picture. "Neither is mine!" Iroh complained as he pointed towards his figure on the paper. "I really trimmed down while Zuko and I were in the Fire Nation!"

"At least you don't look like a boar-q-pine!" Zuko pointed out, noticing just how spiky Sokka had made his hair.

"Why did you draw me destroying a village while in the Avatar State? I thought these were supposed to be the good times!" Aang cried out, honestly appalled that Sokka had put a moment like that in his painting to represent him.

"I thought it looked more exciting that way!" Sokka admitted as he shrugged, not seeing it as a big problem.

"I think you all look great!" Toph exclaimed, holding her arms out to her sides.

!

Zuko made the long trek over to the Capitol City Prison, where his father was currently being held.

"I should count myself lucky," Ozai growled out upon seeing his son before him. "The new Fire Lord has graced with me his presence." Zuko had came in with a small smile on his face, but after hearing this, his smile faded as he turned his expression to the trained, unreadable mask he had learned to use around certain people, such as his father.

He stared blankly at Ozai and informed that he should be be counting himself lucky because the Avatar spared his life. Ozai let out a huff of air after hearing this. "Banishing me was probably the best thing you could have done for me. It put me on the right path and lead me to the right people. Perhaps your time here will do the same for you."

"Why are you really here?" Ozai asked, slowly bringing his gaze towards his son.

"I'm here to congratulate you," Zuko informed, the volume of his voice rising a bit with a tone of joy. Ozai narrowed his eyes and remained silent, waiting for him to continue. "A week ago, you were given a new title."

Ozai groaned as he slowly turned a bit more towards Zuko. "And just what could this title possibly be?"

"Grandfather."

**The End**


	25. Chapter 25

**Thank you all _so much_** for your favorites and reviews, everything! You guys have no idea how much you motivated me, reminded me of things, and even gave me ideas all throughout this story.

It's so weird that this is over, seeing how everything turned and what whatnot, things that were supposed to happen but didn't, things that weren't supposed to happen but did.

I think I have a sequel planned out, I may or may not have a couple chapters done, but I'm still not sure if I'm actually going to continue this...

Here's the idea of it, though:

**Rebuild:** Even after his defeat and imprisonment, Ozai seems to remain a threat. This time, it's to the Royal bloodline. A group of rebels view Zuko as an usurper and plan to dispose of him and his family one person at a time, one child at a time. Prince Hakodai and the rest of the current leading Royals are threatened. The Gaang must put a halt to their rebuilding of the Earth Kingdom and aid the Fire Nation in finding their first born Prince before his lifetime is cut short by the resistance...

So? Tell me what you guys think! Yay or nay!?


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